I was offered a chance to make case panels for www.overclock.co.uk back in February, after sending them a pic of my new case that I purchased from them, after costing it all out I told them that it was uneconomical for me to make bespoke case panels and that was the end of it.

Today I bought a copy of Personal computer world and saw a clone of my PC case mod on the front page. There is no reference as to whose case it was but overclock.co.uk are in the liist of recommended companies! Coincidence? I think not!
Here is a pic of my case & the mag front, make your own mind up, also here is a link to my posting of the original case on UTpics

Original case:
EDIT: the cheeky sods even used the same case & colour.

>/ grrr... ppl these days. ah well what can we do? thats life...

OK I just found it on www.coolcasemods.com, looks close enough to me http://www.coolcasemods.com/customer/produ...89&cat=6&page=1

Wow, that sucks. Maybe you should go into case design.

Well, I guess you have two options:

1.) Try to take some form of legal action, after all this is your property and it is a pretty blatant copy of it. Maybe you can get some money out of it.

or

2.) Just stay in the spirit of modding and feel priviledged that your case idea made it to the cover of a magazine. You can even write a letter to the magazine explaining your case and you might get your name mentioned in a future edition.


Good luck either way, and cool case.

Without a copyright, he can't do anything. Shouldn't have told them it was uneconomical for you (I would have asked for them to make it and you receive a percentage in a written contract). Too late for that. Now its free game

Yeah, I think I missed the boat on that one :-(

From what I have heard the moment you create something it has a copyright on it. I am no lawyer, but that makes sense to me. If I wrote a school paper, and someone copied it and used it as content on their website I think I could rightfully sue, even without filing for a copyright.

Any legal folks out there?

That's called Plagiarism, and that is illeagle, however it's also something compleatly different.


Unless it is a copyrighted design, registered trademark, or patent, there is nothing that can be done. Who done what first, can never be declaired.

Sorry.

Well, I guess that settles it: your stuck with option #2. At least It shows your work is good enough to show up on the cover of a magazine.

Nothing you can legally do.

.tty deal man.. but on the lighter side, i noticed on the corner of that magazine "convert your xbox to run linux" and for some reason, i cant view the pics on that link you provided ( the UT link ) and those pics where dated also ( added on such n such a date )

That link working this morning it is probably your firewall or adblocking that is stopping it loading.

I have complained to www.coolcasemods.co.uk about them using my design, their reply was and I quote: (copy of e-mails, so it reads from the bottom)

"Hi we have sale invoices but with customer details on them so we cant just send them out to anyone.

If you want to take this matter further please do so but we will take it all the way.



CCM



-----Original Message-----
From: Allan O'Neill [mailto:allan.oneill@ntlworld.com]
Sent: 30 September 2003 13:04
To: Billy
Subject: Re: thunder modded case



Could you please send me proof to put my mind at rest? It just seems too much of a coincidence.



Thanks

Allan.

----- Original Message -----

From: Billy

To: 'Allan O'Neill'

Sent: Tuesday, September 30, 2003 12:57 PM

Subject: RE: thunder modded case



Hi,

Sorry that you feel this way but cool case mods designed the cool case thunder about a year and a half ago and we have proof.

So we did not steel anyone’s ideas!



Cool Case Mods







-----Original Message-----
From: Allan O'Neill [mailto:allan.oneill@ntlworld.com]
Sent: 30 September 2003 11:45
To: billy@coolcasemods.com
Subject: RE: thunder modded case
Importance: High



Hi, I am wondering where and how you got the design for the Thunder case mod, this is an exact copy of my modded case that I designed in January of this year. I bought a copy of Personal Computer World November 2003 & saw my custom case on the front page.

I am pretty upset that something distinctive I created has been utilised as a commercial enterprise. At the time I sent photo's of the comlpeted case to www.overclockers.co.uk to let them see it as they were interested in the project. They offered me the opportunity to produce these and other bespoke case panels for them but, after costing & time commitments were worked out I decided not to go ahead with that.



However, at NO time did I give permission for my work to be used commercially, my original design can be seen here with a dated webpage http://www.utpics.com:8080/Pictures.php?Bo...icsList&ID=1405 that really leaves little doubt as to the truth of my ownership of this work. The case was also posted on other case mod forums at the time, I think this is a pretty unethical way to get yourselves some business.



Awaiting your response.

Allan O'Neill



This is not a company that I would recommend to anyone wanting a unique PC, chances are it is not quite as unique as you may wish. may I suggest patenting your ideas if this kind of activity offends you.

Hey, look at the brighter side. You got YOUR idea in a magizine. It's good enough to be sold commercially, not many get that happening to them.

AND, I think yours looks better, more round. Theirs is just squared and the moulding looks like crap ... IMO

Nice job anyway!

tell me that the spelling of steal in their email is your typo and not theirs...if it's theirs, well i guess you know the type of people you're dealing with.

sucks about the whole thing though. try to keep it in perspetive, it's only a case, there greater injustices being done all the time, where people's lives are affected.

It IS their typo, you are right though it is only a case, it isn't life affecting but I'm still bl**dy mad LOL!

Don't sweat it... you made a cool design and someone copied it... They aren't making a Million bucks on it...

Hey, you didn't invent the computer, you copied someone else's idea....

hmmm... makes for an interesting argument, huh..

Anyway, great mod. Feel honored...

Isn't the greatest compliment the fact that someone wants to copy you and mimic what you do.
i would be proud as hell, i would send them a email saying admit it you B@sterds stole my idea i am god lol.
peace

the thing is a paten wont even give you full coverage. All they have to do is change one little bitty thing and its ok, and it looks like they did the edges are a little rounder it looked like and they have a different fan guard. Anyways my dad invented a neumatic steal bender, and 7 years later he sees it in on of his industrail equipment catalogs. The thing is they changed one thing about it they had the built in pump. My dad had a quick switch so he could change it to his bigger one and back to the small one. well they didnt have this external pump with the quick switch valve and theres was all interneal. Kinda sucks but thats how the world works Corprate Espinage (hope i spelt that right). Nobody can come up with their own ideas anymore. they gotta steal other peoples.

Thats cause to many people want stuff Handed to them so they dont hafta work for it.

Under recent changes in the laws, in the United States patents are now granted for a term of 20 years from the date of application (14 years for design patents). Different rules apply for patents covered by applications filed before June 8, 1995. Patents may be extended only by a special act of Congress (except for certain pharmaceutical patents).

I don't feel its corporate espionage. Without a free market (capitalism) then how would you bring the market price down. How would you eliminate a "Monopoly". That is what competition is for. So someone makes something similar to yours so NOW you have to drop your price, making everybody better off . Its not stealing ideas. Its using the idea to your advantage. i.e. PC's are better comps than Mac's, Macs came out first, but PC's used the "idea" of home computers and have surpassed them. Gotta love Capitalism!

that looks exactly the same. exact they touched the photo up a bit by adding whit edges and some stupid funky whirwind fan thing.

Exactly. Look at the wireless communications industry.

Did you ever wonder why, until recently, Nextel was the only one to have "Direct Connect"? Their patent finally ran out a little while ago, and now Verizon has their "Push to Talk" thing or whatever it's called. Nextel services and phones have always been way pricier than other company's, but look for those prices to lower now that their patent is up. Capitalism at its best.