Inferior copies.....

[Breamingwithjoy]

Originally Posted by Tom156

Burns Living Dead is the only other dead bait I can think of but as far as aesthetics go the Burns has far more body to it and an OSP Bent Minnow has a more aggressive bend, while being a lot smaller profile.

Where there are comparisons between the two baits the OSP is not a copy of the Burns.

Yep those are the ones I was hinting at, your are right in that the design is quite divergent but the concept of a bent dead bait surface lure was there before the bent minnow. Not saying that OSP coping the living dead lures more that they were not the earth shatterers that some are making them out to be.

Forwhat's it's worth I reckon if you gave the bent minnows the same finish as what is on the Living dead's you would have a serious slayer of all things fishy.

[Madeye]

E

Originally Posted by stella fella

since when has the law been 30%? I know someone who gets skateboard trucks made in china and they only need a 10% change in the dimensions to avoid copyright.

30% was the number quoted in the article I was following. Regards a soft plastic copy in the USA. What killed the small guy wasn't whether he was in the wrong or right but the court costs. I'll try and dig it up.
Also some custom bait makers were contacted for using same colour names on their plastics. USA might be different though

Weird thing is. There are plenty of copies of Gary yamatyo stick baits ?
Also the blatant bc.f and big snake copies.

[Tonka-T]

Originally Posted by stella fella

read my earlier comment. there's a big difference between a design and a concept.

Not disagreeing with you Stella, but it all starts somewhere mate, and its never going to change. It's just how it is.....

[Fishigan]

These copies are never as good as the original. Id rather buy 1 good quality lure than 2 rip-offs of the same price. I'm sure it will outlast them and I have more confidence in using it.

[Tom156]

Originally Posted by Breamingwithjoy

Yep those are the ones I was hinting at, your are right in that the design is quite divergent but the concept of a bent dead bait surface lure was there before the bent minnow. Not saying that OSP coping the living dead lures more that they were not the earth shatterers that some are making them out to be.

Forwhat's it's worth I reckon if you gave the bent minnows the same finish as what is on the Living dead's you would have a serious slayer of all things fishy.

I see where your coming from regards to the dead bait style lure. Same concept but very different results. Both have unique actions to them as well.

And agree about the burns colours they have some very cool paint jobs.

[manno]

Madeye 38s differ 30% from ZX40's?

[Tom Walker]

Originally Posted by manno

Madeye 38s differ 30% from ZX40's?

Completely. No where near, Its just the hooks that make you think that. They slightly resemble a TT or something but barely noticeable. completely unique design compared to others in my opinion. Different action altogether.

[vegasbreamman]

Lets face it there is copies out there for nearly everything !
Lets let our wallets do the talking if you don't agree with copies don't buy them!

[manno]

Originally Posted by Tom Walker

Completely. No where near, Its just the hooks that make you think that. They slightly resemble a TT or something but barely noticeable. completely unique design compared to others in my opinion. Different action altogether.

Id make my lure 100% different. Just to avoid opinions..... Probably programable depth suspending. There will of course be patented motion technology inspired by the paddle steamer and the swiss watch. I would patent the action as prawn-o-matic. Painted with magical eye puzzle. If the bream stares at it long enough they see a little 3d shrimp emerge from the pattern. Instant programed strike! I call them Hypno-blades. They will be made in china.

[Juicebox]

I think a lot of people are missing a simple point here.

Consumers will be better off with copies of lures/tackle etc etc.

It is the same reason why many of us still buy quality branded tackle. Innovation!.

It's the same reason why many of us continue to have brand prejudice towards shimano/Daiwa etc. We perceive that these manufacturers are market leaders, leaving many other unpopular brands in their 'wake'.

If you look back, you will see that consumers definitely win out in these situations. It's simple economics. Now that the OSP bent minnows are 'copied', OSP will be prompted to innovate new lures. You can say they have been a 'market leader' in the bent minnows. They have previously enjoyed their success in creating this lure, I don't know how long it has been since they started producing this lure but I assure you, these lures weren't made for Australian conditions. Australia's market is way too small in comparison to other countries. I think some of us should thank such lure producers within Australia, whether it be Austackle or Hurricane, are doing us a favor, by filling an obvious void in the Australian lure market. Such lure companies, based out of Australia, can voice their opinions on our behalf. I mean I'm sure many of us were first sceptical of throwing a 80mm hardbodies at a bream!

I am adamant that many of us would still spend our money on the original OSPs and some will opt to buy some of the 'inferior* rip offs'.

Just some food for thought,

Andrew.

*inferior, something that we have no knowledge of yet, as i doubt many of us has used these lures by said lure companies yet. I mean, a lot of people seem to prefer the Kokoda ripoffs

[sloppyjoe24]

Berkeley, Damiki, z-man, atomic and countless others all make a jerk shad or grub tail soft plastic. Everyone has used them at one stage or another and are pretty blatant copies of someone's original idea yet no one has a cry about it. Australia is a pimple on a pubescent teenagers face compared to the world wide lure market with all the lures imported generally designed for a completely different species than wot we use them on. When a local company decide to use an original template and modify it to suit Aussie species everyone is all up in arms over it.

I don't agree with the whole designed and tested in Australia claims but it probably has simple type of political correctness to it.

[manno]

Originally Posted by sloppyjoe24

I don't agree with the whole designed and tested in Australia claims but it probably has simple type of political correctness to it.

RE-designed and tested in Australia?

[hatch]

So who come up with idea first? Hurricane or Austackle?

Because one of them is actually copying their counterpart exactly (minus colours)

[tuan]

I can see both sides of the argument here ... just my 2 cents

i think it's great to have aussie lure companies getting in on the act and providing 'aussie fishos' with 'aussie lures'. there is a market for that and i can only commend that. it's a great idea to provide for a niche in the market since apparently, australia only gets the leftover lures from overseas - i'll accept this comment as being true.

don't like it that moulds are sold and re-branded - i think this is wrong. making modifications to an existing lure and calling it new and improved also seems a bit wrong to me. nothing like going to the drawing board and creating something new and original.

but the truth is, most lures catch fish and it's been true for decades, so it seems a bit far fetched when a company says a lure is 'specifically designed' to catch a particular type of fish - I am not a scientist or a lure maker so I am a bit pessimistic about that. however i am a fisherman so i will gladly be sucked into the marketing and buy the lure because i personally want to try it i.e. i like the company's selling points and they 'sold the idea of the lure to me' so they get my $$ for the lure for me to test it out for myself.

as you become a more experienced fisho, i think you can suss out the lures that work from the ones that don't and you should make your own mind up as to what you buy and what you don't. you've probably heard this saying before - lures catch fishermen, not fish.

with regards to copying ... well i don't think i can add much to this nor do i want to offend any of the site sponsors as they do pay to advertise on this site and as everyone knows - without sponsorship, there'll be no website.

how i see it ... every brand of lure has a sinking minnow, a shallow crank, a deep crank, a version of a top water lure ... not to mention plastic grubs, worms, prawns, etc. as BWJ has pointed out, the osp bent minnow is not the first of it's kind either ... i never knew that so it just goes to show .. nothing is really "new" out there.

i won't even try to add anything with respect of legality and patenting since it is not my area of expertise (which probably goes for 9/10 of the people who have commented on this issue).

it would seem i am a bit of a fence sitter with this one. happy to see it play out and just hope there isn't too much blood after we are finished !

[Shortytheyakker]

Are copys always inferior ?

I have been reading that some folks have to change the trebles on the OSP bent minnows because they are not up to task.

Funny Austackle brought out the Shinku and everybody sang it praises cheaper and smaller than the Tiemco stick minnow they said, now folks are chucking a wobberly over the Bents.