jdmitch

I will say it yet again, Brompton is NOT a monopoly! Monopolies are defined as having > 70% market share in the largest market they can reasonably be judged to compete in. In this case, Brompton competes in the folding bike market rather than the bike market at large. They're nowhere near 70% market share.

PDR

If you read the history of Brompton’s creator Andrew Ritchie:
https://www.brompton.co.uk/page.asp?p=3086
You will realise what a big sacrifice in time, effort, resources and reduced standard of living he went through to bring us these special little bikes. Any financial rewards / better quality of life he may now be enjoying are wholly dissevered... he has paid his dues

tcs

Speaking about your scenario not as a bicycle enthusiast but as a design engineer and holder of a couple patents: If the patent for the "better idea" is still in effect (currently 19 years from the time of filing) one could seek redress in the courts. Once the patent expires, one should prepare to get their derriere handed to them in the marketplace unless they continued innovating. That's the rules of the game, everybody knows them going in and nobody cares how the innovator feels about it.

tcs

tcs

Of course, Ritchie would be enjoying even greater finacial rewards and the resultant quality of life if he dumped his high cost London factory and moved the manufacturing operation to Taiwan. That he has quixoticly sacrificed some of his gain for certain others is either noble or foolish depending on one's perspective.

tcs

kamtsa

If patents would not expire than the Brompton would not exists since it based on expired patents of earlier bicycle inventors.

invisiblehand

The main Brompton patents expired several years ago. Brompton protected its market through copyrights. There are PUH-lenty of discussions in the archives.

From the Wikipedia page which corresponds with my memory.

Copyright infringment

Following the expiry of the Brompton patent, Neobike started to import its Scoop One and Astra Flex V3 models into Europe.[22] A court case was held at the Groningen civil court in the Netherlands on 24 May 2006, which ruled that the industrial design of the Brompton folding bicycle was protected by copyright. Additionally, the Neobike manual included direct copies of drawings found in the Brompton user manual.[23]

The Brompton Bicycle Limited v Rijwielbedrijf Vincent Van Ellen BV ruling held that there was creative flexibility in the design for a bicycle beyond those choices made purely for functional reasons; in the Brompton case this included the M-style handlebars, curved main frame tube and the cable-placement.[23] Each of these were noted to be distinctive design decisions that another manufacturer could change without compromising the ability to create a functional folding bicycle. Such a level of perceived similarity was therefore likely to cause "confusion in the market" under the Dutch copyright law, Article 13. Neobike did not choose to appeal and Brompton Bicycle was granted the right to have all of the imported bicycles destroyed and an injunction against future imports by Neobike.[23]

invisiblehand

Certainly production costs would go down. But simply judging from what other people write regarding what makes a Brompton attractive, other government incentives, and the cost of getting bigger, it isn't clear to me that his decision to produce in GB is that much of a sacrifice. Although it is probably the case that by certain metrics society is worse off by keeping production there.

alhedges

Patents on mechanical devices aren't like patents on drugs or software because there are still complicated and expensive manufacturing processes you have to set up to create the item. Consequently, the cost savings you would get from manufacturing a public domain design, while real, are not nearly the savings you get from drug or software manufacturing, where almost the entire cost of the product lies in the patent. (WRT drugs, assuming that you are already a drug manufacturer).

Azreal911

You know what? I seriously doubt brompton would go out of business at all. Just like americans want something american made so does the brits would want something british made. If that wasn't the case wouldn't you guys think that Louis Vuitton and Gucci would have gone out of business by now with all the counterfeits and knockoffs that are out there? Nope, people are still coveting them and the real collectors ONLY want the ones that are made in europe and not the knockoffs from a factory in china. You'll have the many that will want the knockoff but there will be just as many that wants the original product. It's a personal thing and some like the feeling of ownership they get for the original product. I paid alot more for my silly bike just cause I really like the product and wanted the original one and didn't really care that others want a cheaper version. To each its own.

Maybe couldn't you guys think just maybe that Andrew Ritchey wasn't there to make maximum profits for minimum cost? But instead he really wanted to make a bike that the people would be proud to own that has a long british craftsmanship history, made by their own countrymen?

It's a different feeling between buying like a handmade bicycle made from europe or north america instead of a $100 walmart bike mass produced cheaply by machine.

I don't own a brompton by the way so I'm not pushing everyone to get one, I just ride my silly strida. Just using handbags as the analogy cause of listening to my wife talk about it once in awhile and she kinda speaks the truth about that pride of ownership mentality.

invisiblehand

In this case, Neobike, already had the machinery to produce Brompton clones.

It isn't clear to me whether there is a connection between Neobike and Merc/Flamingo, but there are clones out there.

Dahon.Steve

Interesting.

If Brits protect their manufacturing jobs which is why Brompton is still around. If Brompton were an American company, they would have just been another Schwinn story.

Azreal911

Since you posted this I've read up on Schwinn (wikipedia), but they aren't Brompton I find. scwhinn itself just became outdated and outmoded by the 80-90's and no one even wanted to copy them cause they where building better bikes themselves (cannondale, trek, specialized where "better"). For the Brompton here people WANTED to copy them cause they have a good thing going.

EastBiker

I think it's hilarious how the OP disappeared from this thread and formed a new thread bashing Brompton in a new way.

rbrian

It has nothing to do with Brits protecting British manufacturing jobs. Raleigh, for example. Once the biggest British cycle company, used to make more than half the bikes sold in Britain, all made in Britain - now it's little more than a name, the bikes are made in the far east.