Let it snow! Burton Patents

To say that the winter of 2014 as been harsh would be an understatement. In the North-East and West, snow totals are approaching historic levels. Even as I type, another monster storm is gathering to dump feet of snow on an area stretching from upstate NY to Maine.

If there are any winners in intense snowy winter, it is ski resorts. Resorts, it is obvious to state, can't function without skiers and snowboarders.  One of the premier outfits in snowboarding Burton is, aside from a trendsetter in slope apparel and design, a prolific patentee.

According to the patent databases, Burton has more than 100 issued patents and pending application in the US.  An appreciable number of these patents are directed to function features, such as the spring leaf modified glide board design seen above.  Other patents address the continuous problem of lacing your boots. For example patent 8418381, describes a lacing system for boots.

One of the features that drives sales in the apparel / sporting goods space is the relentless need to innovate and produce new and improved models. In that respect, the Tech space and the sports retail space are not significantly different.   The ability to patent these advancements, however incremental, mean increased sales and wide recognition as an innovator.

Not every patenable idea is a commercial success, nor should it. A large purpose behind the patent system is to allow companies and individuals to iterate over known ideas to get new ideas. Sometime, the iteration is not worth the added expense. Sometimes the iteration was the last piece of some overall systems puzzle that advances the art, and becomes the basis of new paradigm in the industry.

Burton made a large push for the integrated boot binding combination. Had it taken off, it would have changed the technological direction of the industry. At the end of the day, in 2014 at least, that technology is a side show to the more simplistic boot binding system employed by Burton and other board manufacturers.

The point is that you never know which ideas might strike and catch fire, and which ideas whither on the vine. If you wait until you are successful to patent those ideas, it is already too late.


Jordan Garner