Originally Posted by
Sy Reene
OT, but I'm curious how a brand signs up for MIPS? Does the MIPS company make the special liners to spec and sell them at a basic unit cost, or just provide a blueprint of sorts and charges a licensing fee? I can imagine why Bontrager wanted to create their own alternative and keep the fees as their own.
Articles like
this one suggest that helmet brands contract with MIPS to design a system for a particular helmet. I have no idea whether the system is then produced by MIPS or a different company, but other articles like
this one indicate that MIPS does test to a minimum 10% improvement in performance over the same helmet without MIPS, otherwise the brand cannot use the MIPS branding. So whatever the case, I’m sure MIPS exercises some control over production in order to insure their guarantees.
Also, Singletracks.com quoted MIPS’ Max Strandwitz on the question of licensing:
“Yes we do charge a license fee to brands for the right to use our brand, technology, patents, and marketing material. Reasons for brands developing their own systems is difficult for us to answer. Indeed if they do that they do not need to pay a licensee fee but instead they need to pay for an organization that can replicate what we are doing in terms of development of the technique, implementing in helmets for mass production, marketing, research etc. Bear in mind that we have now done more than 23,000 tests and it took us 20 years to become profitable, so it is not that easy.”
https://www.singletracks.com/mtb-gea...han-different/