A new website carrying pop-ups is showing on the horizon. After the quick inspection is clear to the viewer that there is no slightest effort to distinguish themselves from the competition. there is NO invention, No dedicated designer behind. Just repetition of medium quality designs so well known from offerings by other sellers. There is no way to distinguish their cards from any other Vietnam (Or China) importer. The generic website offers no info about the people behind it, but after a closer inspection is clear that this is the website of one of the Vietnam-based makers as it points to their pricing policy and the number of rather unimpressive designs. However, there is some extra effort since the manufacturer offers printed cards instead of single-color colored papers used by others. As a result, some of the cards are a little bit neater than the competition.
Friedrich Soennecken inventor of the Ring Binder should certainly wake up from his well-deserved final rest knowing that finally there is something/ somebody good enough to challenge his invention “Ring-binder” 133 years long reign in every office on the earth.
To my surprise, the new solution comes not in form of a complicated mechanism but as a single, flexible sheet of material cut a certain way. All rings and metal parts are eliminated. And it works.
There is no sticking-out spine always taking the same space on the shelf even if empty. The New Ring-Less Binder is flexible and quite pleasant to handle, the same as the rest of this new family serving the same binding functions.
The Challenger says he has ambitions to improve range of products currently on the market. Eliminating the Rings, Spines, prongs etc. His solution simply is simpler. It means less expensive. It means Not welcomed by competition.
This is not the first time the Reign of the Ringis challenged. There are numerous challenges to its rule sponsored by many companies. None of them were successful, lingering on the fringe of the Office market mostly due to the fact that they introduce their own sets of problems.
In the U.S. there is an additional problem with the office market dominated by very few big players. Players with immense financial resources not taking any risks when it comes to the introduction of a product competing with their well-established offerings.
To make things more palatable for inventors the 2011 Leahy–Smith America Invents Act effectively makes U.S. patents worthless and unenforceable by a small player not having financial resources to finance legal challenges.
Leahy-Smith’s act (2011 America Invention act) sponsored by Big Tech effectively enables “Efficient Infringement”practiced by already established companies barring entry to the market for eventual startups/competition. Introduced by this legislation PTAB (Patent Trial and Appeal Board ) enjoys well-deserved fame as a ” Patent killing squad” invalidating by own admission 84% of all challenged patents. The effect: Invention exodus to more promising lands already caught politicians’ attention in Congress.
So far, there is no real action to fix things except proposed bills released with misleading titles and preambles and opposite in effect, the rest of the text. Under “Save The Inventor”false flag trying to cement the current situation, benefiting no one except the BIG TECH.
Empty Ring binders. Please notice the space needed to store even the empty one.
If we add the long string of anti-patent rulings by the US Supreme Court, there is no wonder why the US public do not see the latest fruits of technological development we can easily spot in other countries. To learn more about the plight of US inventors please check https://innovationgadfly.com/ & https://usinventor.org/
5 Ring-Less binders by Alfac.uscompare Ring-Less with empty Ring binder
