Patio Pong on ABC The Toy Box
You might have recently seen the infringing Patio Pong product on ABC's The Toy Box. If you haven't already, you can watch the episode here (Patio Pong starts at 15:46):
http://abc.go.com/shows/the-
To give you some background, BucketBall™ is the original product of it's kind to hit the market. BucketBall™ is in no way affiliated with the Patio Pong product whatsoever. BucketBall™ was originally chosen to be part of the show. However, we were required to sign a "Participant Agreement" and a "Invention License Agreement" in order to be on the show. We did not agree with the terms of the "Invention License Agreement". According to the "Invention License Agreement":
License Grant to Mattel.
A. Winner. If you win the Competition, then you hereby grant to Mattel (and agree to grant to Mattel) an exclusive, worldwide, cost-free, unrestricted, unconditional, irrevocable, non-terminable, transferable, and perpetual right and license to use and exploit all right, title, and interest in all of your Submission (including, without limitation, all Intellectual Property (defined in Section 8) in your Submission) in any and all manners, formats, media, and channels that now exist or are later developed. This grant of license is only conditioned on you winning the Program (i.e., the license is still granted to Mattel even if you refuse to sign the Royalty Agreement for any reason or you refuse to accept the $50,000 payment for any reason).
B. Other Participants in Program. If you do not win the Competition, but Mattel, within ninety (90) days after the Program’s season finale airs on the Network, offers you the option to receive the $50,000 or a 3% royalty on Mattel’s actual sales of your Submission, then you hereby grant to Mattel (and agree to grant to Mattel) an exclusive worldwide, cost-free, unrestricted, unconditional, irrevocable, non-terminable, transferable, and perpetual right and license to use and exploit all right, title, and interest in your Submission (including, without limitation, your Intellectual Property in your Submission) in any and all manners, formats, media, and channels that now exist or are later developed. This grant of license is only conditioned on Mattel offering you the option to receive the $50,000 or a 3% royalty on Mattel’s actual sales of your Submission (i.e., the license is still granted to Mattel even if you refuse to sign the Royalty Agreement for any reason or you refuse to accept the $50,000 payment for any reason).
In other words, we would basically be giving away our product and all our intellectual property to Mattel for either $50K or a 3% royalty. This would be insane given that we have more than this amount tied to existing inventory and intellectual property. We tried to negotiate with them but they would not budge on the payment terms so, unfortunately, we had to respectfully decline the offer.
It was a surprise to us to see the infringing Patio Pong product on the show this month. It was unfortunate to see a knockoff that didn't have products designed specifically for the game. All of BucketBall™ product's are engineered specifically for the game. There is not one aspect of our product that is not custom made. Also, BucketBall™ is not just limited to land play, it can also be played on water with our inflatable racks. Check out our product line and let us know what you think.
Featured BucketBall™ Product:
BucketBall™ - Party Pack - Beach Edition
