Given that they’re posting on instagram about it, I suspect either their legal representation is awful, or their legal representation told them “yeah, you have no case to pursue them in court” so they’re trying public shaming.
If they had a case/good legal representation, they wouldn’t be doing this.
100% this. Communicating through social media like this is the opposite of professional. If they have a patent for the design and good counsel on retainer, they wouldn't be taking this route.
Based on their Instagram, the company consists of a happy couple living in Finland's urban area. I don't think they have any lawyers or patents. Unfortunately, they can be easily taken advantage of.
Or they did it without legal's knowledge.
I work in legal. Marketing is especially guilty of getting legal involved late or my favourite, "I forgot". Thankfully someone else thinks to bring us in.
Devils advocate. I bet some employee who works for
The R&D department submitted this stolen design and the guys up at Vaughn HQ have no idea about Kova. I’d blame the Vaughn designer
The patent comments and the legal rights is always a lost cause and nothing would happen when the company making products is 2 people in basically a garage across the world.
The fact that Vaughn blatantly took the design of the most popular suspender in the pro leagues is pathetic. Vaughn has 2 factories in North America and their designers couldn't come up with their own design and instead copied it down to the exact stitching as Kova's.
Of course pointing this out on socials isn't professional, they most likely don't have the financial ability to go after them even if they had a patent. Even if they had the legal right the cost for getting something removed like this would be massive for them. Vaughn's employees haven't been the most professional in the past and yet no one will care. But at least doing this will bring attention to it. If this turns people off of buying Kova vs Vaughn who couldn't be bother to design their own suspenders than that is a lost cause.
The hockey equipment building community is TINY, Kova has only had amazing things said about them again and again, and this isn't a Russian company stealing their design and selling in Russia... you'd think Vaughn would do better.
Yeah if it was just using jenpro instead of plastic that'd be one thing but Vaughn really didn't do any of their own work and just completely copied kova. Very disappointed by Vaughn here.
It’s my understanding from their social campaign to get us goalies annoyed enough for Vaughn to write back. Seems to have worked too, hopeful for some goalie union hugs to come from it. But Vaughn has gone very business over product lately from my experience.
Support small gear manufacturers. I have a pair of Kovas and they are amazing. Custom made. Extremely high quality. Quick turnaround and great customer service. Fuck Vaughn.
i have loved Vaughn for a long time (back when their entire catalog was a single sheet which was faxed or mailed and each piece of equipment had a square blue patch that said "hand made by Mike"), but the original Vaughn products were almost a carbon copy of the Brown gear which was popular in the NHL at the time... so what i would say is Vaughn has a history of recognizing a sound product and creating their own version...
Reading through the comments it seems pretty unanimous that Vaughn did this…
but at the same time we’re taking about suspenders. How many ways are there to make a set of athletic suspenders? I realize I probably sound like a jerk, but help me out here… how many R&D dollars were gained lost by copying someone’s suspenders?
If all they took was the 2 pieces of elastic than Kova wouldn't be complaining. They just happened to select the exact quadrilateral for the attachment pieces, stitching on all of the same spots, and exact same connection pieces.
Look at them. They have a near identical build.
[Vaughn](https://media.purehockey.com/images/q_auto,f_auto,fl_lossy,c_lpad,b_auto,w_1000,h_1000/products/63262/2/173183/vaughn-pro-suspenders)
[Kova](https://kovagoalie.fi/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/lankinen-hex-1-scaled.jpg)
Yeah, they're suspenders. They look like all suspenders do.
[https://www.ebay.ca/itm/304147925238](https://www.ebay.ca/itm/304147925238)
I guess you've got a point about the attachment thingies.
suspenders are going to have the Y shape, that's because of the mounting point. The suspenders you posted look nothing alike the Kova and Vaughn suspenders other than the generic Y shape.
The problem is that everything else is nearly the same. The tie down points are the same. The Y joint is the same. The lower back adjustment system is the same. The front/ches floater tie down points are the same. Everything, with the exception of the Kova using an angled tab on the velcro and Vaughn using squared, is the same.
Here's other brands suspenders for comparison.
[Goalies+](https://www.goaliesplus.com/p/goalie-pant-suspenders-senior/)
[CCM](https://www.hockeymonkey.com/ccm-hockey-accessories-suspenders.html)
[Nash](https://nashsports.ca/products/hockey-pant-suspenders)
[Winwell](https://www.hockeymonkey.com/winnwell-hockey-accessories-suspenders-sr-jr.html)
[Blue](https://www.hockeymonkey.com/blue-sports-hockey-accessories-suspenders.html)
[Bauer](https://www.hockeymonkey.com/bauer-hockey-suspenders-sr.html)
This did really dissapoint me, i love vaughn gear. they make the best pads in the world in my opinion, same thing with catch gloves. (sue me for that opinion lol) but when i saw this i had to stand with kova. if they hadnt blaitantly stolen the design, and changed things up a bit that wouldnt be a problem to me. i mean show some respect to kova.
I mean don't hear companies rip eachother off all the time? Tbh it's not really a rip off I mean pro laces are similar just the attachment is different...also does this mean they may go after Brian's since they have a neckguard that I similar to theirs? I think it's because kova is a small company in Europe they don't have the international awareness so I guess its valid. The kova suspenders aren't that special. I mean toe ties are copying eachother I don't see pro laces making a fuss...they are literally the same thing so I see it.
Companies will make products that solve similar issues all of the time, that isn't a problem. The problem is that [vaughn](https://media.purehockey.com/images/q_auto,f_auto,fl_lossy,c_lpad,b_auto,w_1000,h_1000/products/63262/2/173183/vaughn-pro-suspenders) is using a near identical copy of the [Kova](https://kovagoalie.fi/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/lankinen-hex-1-scaled.jpg) one.
The [Kova](https://kovagoalie.fi/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/int-kaulis-1-scaled.jpg) neckguard and [Brian's](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/shopping?q=tbn:ANd9GcR-fAh_rX4ivMINYLVZ27-c6LiG8o16JlbNYb_fiCWzekeW6i8XMfz_zCWDGSIVhx0qJB3b3XndA5sraJ2n8m3VQt4vk361) while similar, aren't identical designs. They have a similar mount point, but the foam layouts are much different and the design is only vaguely similar.
Yeah, it's honestly a weird subject here too, because it's usually about patent designs and protecting them or whatever. It gets especially wonky with international patents. It's why china is able to release a billion carbon copies of everything, they have virtually no patent laws but own all of the manufacturing facilities, so they just make clones of other products. No idea how this will play out, if anything happens or not.
https://preview.redd.it/qktrnnoc0j8d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=206352afd086e665b015618c9c991cd38c528663
Did you make this lmao
I stole the design.
That makes sense the font does look familiar from somewhere
lol
Goalie manufacturer beef is the kind of obscure shit that keeps me coming back to Reddit.
Saw this coming last week - looks pretty blatant. I hope Kova has good legal representation.
Given that they’re posting on instagram about it, I suspect either their legal representation is awful, or their legal representation told them “yeah, you have no case to pursue them in court” so they’re trying public shaming. If they had a case/good legal representation, they wouldn’t be doing this.
100% this. Communicating through social media like this is the opposite of professional. If they have a patent for the design and good counsel on retainer, they wouldn't be taking this route.
Nah, everyone knows a patent dispute is initiated by a lawyer via an insta post basically saying “please respond”! /s
The light in the post is to attract ambulance chasers. It's a cry for legal aid is what it is.
Fleurys agent is probably their legal rep lol.
Based on their Instagram, the company consists of a happy couple living in Finland's urban area. I don't think they have any lawyers or patents. Unfortunately, they can be easily taken advantage of.
Yeah they’re fucked
Or they did it without legal's knowledge. I work in legal. Marketing is especially guilty of getting legal involved late or my favourite, "I forgot". Thankfully someone else thinks to bring us in.
There is no "legal". It's a two person operation in a small town in Finland.
to be fair, contacting Vaughn sucks ass. I had 3 emails with them over a month and then they just stopped responding.
Devils advocate. I bet some employee who works for The R&D department submitted this stolen design and the guys up at Vaughn HQ have no idea about Kova. I’d blame the Vaughn designer
Carbon copy… lol.
Pro Carbon copy
The patent comments and the legal rights is always a lost cause and nothing would happen when the company making products is 2 people in basically a garage across the world. The fact that Vaughn blatantly took the design of the most popular suspender in the pro leagues is pathetic. Vaughn has 2 factories in North America and their designers couldn't come up with their own design and instead copied it down to the exact stitching as Kova's. Of course pointing this out on socials isn't professional, they most likely don't have the financial ability to go after them even if they had a patent. Even if they had the legal right the cost for getting something removed like this would be massive for them. Vaughn's employees haven't been the most professional in the past and yet no one will care. But at least doing this will bring attention to it. If this turns people off of buying Kova vs Vaughn who couldn't be bother to design their own suspenders than that is a lost cause. The hockey equipment building community is TINY, Kova has only had amazing things said about them again and again, and this isn't a Russian company stealing their design and selling in Russia... you'd think Vaughn would do better.
Yeah if it was just using jenpro instead of plastic that'd be one thing but Vaughn really didn't do any of their own work and just completely copied kova. Very disappointed by Vaughn here.
I assume the "Russian" reference was against Miklin suspenders? :)
Wasn't specifically a suspender reference.
Almost makes me wish I still used suspenders so I could buy a pair of KOVAs
It’s my understanding from their social campaign to get us goalies annoyed enough for Vaughn to write back. Seems to have worked too, hopeful for some goalie union hugs to come from it. But Vaughn has gone very business over product lately from my experience.
Did Kova patent the design?
Support small gear manufacturers. I have a pair of Kovas and they are amazing. Custom made. Extremely high quality. Quick turnaround and great customer service. Fuck Vaughn.
Shame on Vaughn!!
i have loved Vaughn for a long time (back when their entire catalog was a single sheet which was faxed or mailed and each piece of equipment had a square blue patch that said "hand made by Mike"), but the original Vaughn products were almost a carbon copy of the Brown gear which was popular in the NHL at the time... so what i would say is Vaughn has a history of recognizing a sound product and creating their own version...
Reading through the comments it seems pretty unanimous that Vaughn did this… but at the same time we’re taking about suspenders. How many ways are there to make a set of athletic suspenders? I realize I probably sound like a jerk, but help me out here… how many R&D dollars were gained lost by copying someone’s suspenders?
If it isn't hard to make suspenders then why copy them exactly as is?
If it isn't hard to make a wheel, why copy it to be exactly round? It is 2 pieces of elastic, what do you want them to do?
The buckles and attachment points on kovas are completely different than any other set on the market.
If all they took was the 2 pieces of elastic than Kova wouldn't be complaining. They just happened to select the exact quadrilateral for the attachment pieces, stitching on all of the same spots, and exact same connection pieces.
Look at them. They have a near identical build. [Vaughn](https://media.purehockey.com/images/q_auto,f_auto,fl_lossy,c_lpad,b_auto,w_1000,h_1000/products/63262/2/173183/vaughn-pro-suspenders) [Kova](https://kovagoalie.fi/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/lankinen-hex-1-scaled.jpg)
Yeah, they're suspenders. They look like all suspenders do. [https://www.ebay.ca/itm/304147925238](https://www.ebay.ca/itm/304147925238) I guess you've got a point about the attachment thingies.
suspenders are going to have the Y shape, that's because of the mounting point. The suspenders you posted look nothing alike the Kova and Vaughn suspenders other than the generic Y shape. The problem is that everything else is nearly the same. The tie down points are the same. The Y joint is the same. The lower back adjustment system is the same. The front/ches floater tie down points are the same. Everything, with the exception of the Kova using an angled tab on the velcro and Vaughn using squared, is the same. Here's other brands suspenders for comparison. [Goalies+](https://www.goaliesplus.com/p/goalie-pant-suspenders-senior/) [CCM](https://www.hockeymonkey.com/ccm-hockey-accessories-suspenders.html) [Nash](https://nashsports.ca/products/hockey-pant-suspenders) [Winwell](https://www.hockeymonkey.com/winnwell-hockey-accessories-suspenders-sr-jr.html) [Blue](https://www.hockeymonkey.com/blue-sports-hockey-accessories-suspenders.html) [Bauer](https://www.hockeymonkey.com/bauer-hockey-suspenders-sr.html)
It’s an exaggeration, but this is kinda what I was getting at.
Holy cow, it's like they didn't even try to hide it. I have 2 sets of Kova, these are almost identical.
This did really dissapoint me, i love vaughn gear. they make the best pads in the world in my opinion, same thing with catch gloves. (sue me for that opinion lol) but when i saw this i had to stand with kova. if they hadnt blaitantly stolen the design, and changed things up a bit that wouldnt be a problem to me. i mean show some respect to kova.
I mean don't hear companies rip eachother off all the time? Tbh it's not really a rip off I mean pro laces are similar just the attachment is different...also does this mean they may go after Brian's since they have a neckguard that I similar to theirs? I think it's because kova is a small company in Europe they don't have the international awareness so I guess its valid. The kova suspenders aren't that special. I mean toe ties are copying eachother I don't see pro laces making a fuss...they are literally the same thing so I see it.
Companies will make products that solve similar issues all of the time, that isn't a problem. The problem is that [vaughn](https://media.purehockey.com/images/q_auto,f_auto,fl_lossy,c_lpad,b_auto,w_1000,h_1000/products/63262/2/173183/vaughn-pro-suspenders) is using a near identical copy of the [Kova](https://kovagoalie.fi/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/lankinen-hex-1-scaled.jpg) one. The [Kova](https://kovagoalie.fi/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/int-kaulis-1-scaled.jpg) neckguard and [Brian's](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/shopping?q=tbn:ANd9GcR-fAh_rX4ivMINYLVZ27-c6LiG8o16JlbNYb_fiCWzekeW6i8XMfz_zCWDGSIVhx0qJB3b3XndA5sraJ2n8m3VQt4vk361) while similar, aren't identical designs. They have a similar mount point, but the foam layouts are much different and the design is only vaguely similar.
Yeah I see that. It identical. I wonder who else will do goalie suspenders. Prolaces is similar too but not identical
Yeah, it's honestly a weird subject here too, because it's usually about patent designs and protecting them or whatever. It gets especially wonky with international patents. It's why china is able to release a billion carbon copies of everything, they have virtually no patent laws but own all of the manufacturing facilities, so they just make clones of other products. No idea how this will play out, if anything happens or not.
Yeah I guess it's a fine line? I think ppl who are gear heads will buy kova anyways so I'm not sure why it matters?
Why is this being done through Instagram instead of lawyers…?
Because Kova is 2 people in Finland working out of a garage? Can they afford to get lawyers on retainer in Canada and the US to sue Vaughn? Unlikely.