Company Sued, Loses For Not Using Patented Tech

bdcrazy writes "A man was recently awarded $1.5M in a jury trial after his hand was injured by a Ryobi table saw. The saw did not include the patented 'Saw Stop' technology that the plaintiff argued would have prevented all the problems." 60 similar cases have now been filed nationwide. TechDirt makes the argument that this jury decision is completely crazy: "If the government is going to require companies to use a patented technology, it seems that the only reasonable solution is to remove the patent on it and allow competition in the market place." If the decision stands, not only will the price of table saws go way up, but other hungry patent-holders will probably get a gleam in their eye.

But wait!

[lottameez]

Requiring manufacturers to use this patented safety device would be denying me my right to cut off my fingers. Stay out of my self-mutilation, government!

Re:he should think this through

[WrongSizeGlass]

Ding! Someone mod this up because this is exactly the issue. The guy bought a cheaper saw and then wanted to cry about the fact that Ryobi cut corners when he did exactly the same thing. I'd give him a sarcastic thumbs up but it might be seen as in bad taste.

Re:he should think this through

[spun]

Stumps up, dude!

Re:Cut off his thumb?

[spun]

Ah, power tools. Cheap, don't require a license or even a class to buy or operate, and potentially deadly to the untrained. One of the last bastions holding out against the evil nanny state. Of course, this particular bastion is guarded by a cadre of thumbless idiots, but that just makes it all the funnier for the rest of us.

Re:Not again...

[CajunArson]

Oh.. and "buzzword" was not an intentional pun there.....

Re:Too late, for this jury...

[Em Emalb]

If it is, this guy is gonna be hacked off, no question.

Re:Not again...

[Red Flayer]

Oh.. and "buzzword" was not an intentional pun there.....

I bet you wish we could edit posts so you could go back and cut off that part of your comment.

Re:sounds like a safety law suit jackpot and not a

[CorporateSuit]

Saw Stop claims to have sold 20,000 units with their proprietary brake technology, and to have saved 700 fingers. That is an insane injury rate, and if correct, shows how inherently dangerous table saws really are.

Yeah, but 680 of those fingers were probably pinkies... which are like the lizard's tail of the human body.

"Saw Stop" Technology to halt healthcare reform

[drizato]

In the interest of reducing healthcare costs, Congress will postpone the passing of the healthcare reform bill so that it can be amended to include provisions that require all table saws (both new and existing) be equipped with "Saw Stop" technology. Due to the jobs created by this mandate, a "Saw Stop" subsidy will be created to cover the cost of retro-fit kits to bring existing table saws into compliance for owners of table saws that can not afford the mandated table saw safety enhancement. This "Saw Stop" subsidy will be part of the ever increasing economic stimulus plan.

Re:Cut off his thumb?

[MightyMartian]

I think a chain mail glove would be a horrible idea. Instead of a fairly clean cut off finger that could most likely be stitched back on, you'd have a crushed and mutilated hand as the blade pulled the chain mail and your hand into that little slot.

Not to mention what it would do to the saw!

Re:Not "the government"

[tomhudson]

The only one who was doing anything shoddy was the guy who didn't use the saw as directed. 1-1/2 thumbs down.

Re:he should think this through

[DMUTPeregrine]

I have a Ryobi drill. I also have long hair. While drilling, my hair tie came out & my hair fell & got sucked into the drill. The drill stalled, my hair got a bit burnt, and I managed to unplug it. I then had a 4-pound drill hanging from my hair, which (while interesting) was not exactly fashionable. I managed to take the drill apart and unwind my hair from the motor. I then cleaned the drill of hair bits, greased the bearings where my hair had gotten stuck, & put it back together. Surprisingly the drill still worked. It may not be a great drill (plastic body, not many features) but it's simple and reliable.

Re:he should think this through

[lastchance_000]

Of course he can. The Makita makes a much cleaner cut.

Re:he should think this through

[Runaway1956]

"Idiots using tools are self-solving."

Yes - but this idiot using a power tool found an imperfect solution. He should have been feeding his wood into the saw with his penis, thereby removing his genes from the pool. Darwin would approve, I think.

Re:he should think this through

[Anonymous Coward]

LOL, completely unrelated but I was putting down some Gaffer tape over some wires on the floor in the last minutes before a conference was about to start, I was using my teeth to cut the tape. My hair flipped forward and got stuck in the tape. I tried to play it off but there was no way in hell I was getting my hair out of that myself.

Re:he should think this through

[MaskedSlacker]

We're all adults here. You can say dick.

Re:he should think this through

[dmomo]

>> The guy bought a cheaper saw and then wanted to cry about the fact that Ryobi cut corners when he did exactly the same thing.

Uhm. Isn't the whole point of buying a saw to cut corners?

Re:We've seen this before, move along..

[adolf]

Imagine buying a roofing hammer instead of a nail gun because it is cheaper. Then imagine roofing with a blindfold on and smashing your finger badly. If you had bought a nail gun instead, you could have avoided smashing your finger while blindfolded. Now imagine suing the maker of the hammer for this reason. This is analogous to what happened here.

He was using his table saw, blindfolded, on the roof?

Re:he should think this through

[AVryhof]

Gimmie Three!!!

Cowabunga!