Rumors have abounded that Craig Miller of Ultimate Airball is going to sue everyone from Fields, manufacturers and players who dare to use or copy their airball bunkers. The following statement from Craig Miller was found on PbNation in a discussion about this topic.
FROM THE DESK OF:
Craig Miller
President, Brimstone Enterprises, Inc.
Makers of Ultimate Airball® Inflatable Bunkers
www.UltimateAirball.com
Craig@UltimateAirball.com
WOW guys…
If it weren’t for jumping to erroneous conclusions, some of the posters on a few of these forums would get no exercise at all!
Congratulations to the few of you who got it right!
Here’s the straight “10 Point” dope about the ULTIMATE AIRBALL® RUMOR:
1) There is NO CHANCE WHATSOEVER that Brimstone Enterprises (Ultimate Airball) would EVER consider suing all of the Game Field Operators who use Patent infringing products.
Our BIGGEST SOURCE of new Customers is these disappointed field operators, who bought our competitors product (rhymes with “Soup Error”) and unfortunately learned the hard way that they should have bought American, from Ultimate Airball. So make no mistake:
NO LAWSUIT against individual field operators is being contemplated. IT’S A LIE.
2) Any future defense of our Patent at the League or Manufacturing level would have ZERO affect on the cost of playing in a tournament, other than REDUCING the cost. Our bunkers are NOT more expensive, just far more long-lasting.
The cost of bunkers, netting, telephone poles, and porta-potties is minuscule in the total entry fee equation. Several Leagues have already shown an interest in switching to Ultimate Airball just because they last longer and have better availability.
3) The SOURCE: Some of the early posters who were told to hurt Ultimate Airball by starting a false rumor of an imaginary lawsuit against field operators weren’t aware of WHO is actually behind Brimstone/Ultimate Airball. When they realized WHO we are, and realized they KNEW us, someone “squealed” to us. Now we know who started this lie. These rumors were evidently planted by a certain League source, who was allegedly “persuaded” to do so by our competitor, and instructed basically what to write. This was evidently a last ditch effort to compete with our better products. It’s obviously backfired on them and become a fantastic source of free publicity for Ultimate Airball (dot com!). (Dear French People: Thanks for the FREE ADS!)
4) Point Fingers with CARE: A WELL KEPT SECRET - Our French competitor has been operating their patent-infringing Chinese-Import bunker business from INSIDE SMART PARTS’ BUILDING for several years. They actually SHARE an Attorney! Perhaps if SP knows how to DEFEND a Patent, they also know how to help their insider friends infringe one as well? Hmmmm… Now isn’t THAT an interesting wrinkle? I SWEAR I am not making this up…
5) HURTING THE INDUSTRY?!? Not!! When tubeless Ultimate Airball first took the damn troublesome tubes and unreliable fans out of the bunkers more than TEN YEARS AGO, the game got BETTER.
Field Operator’s jobs got EASIER.
American innovation WON.
Then the French knocked off our products via China, forcing us to abandon our own Paintball Team (Brimstone Smoke – also our production staff!) and nearly wiped out our company – but we SURVIVED.
6) NOW, Ultimate Airball has learned to compete WITHOUT cheapening our much better product, yet our prices are now EQUAL. Many Leagues, fields and distributors have realized this, and our discussions are becoming very productive.
7) Americans like you, including you young ballers, need to realize that “MADE IN USA” needs to mean something again FAST, or we’ll all have to work in restaurants and gas stations. Not a joke. This is your Country.
Nobody likes a lawsuit, but NOT EVERYONE who acts to defend a Patent is just like Smart Parts. Before jumping on the bandwagon against every Patent defender, we need to slow down and see who has done what to whom. If we blindly hate on every American company just for defending what they legitimately innovated, soon, we would all be speaking Chinese.
America NEEDS Manufacturing. Fortunately for Ultimate Airball, due to our superior quality reputation, we are growing again and HIRING Sales Reps, while our foreign competitor has been firing people, with very few left to can!
9) When “the COMPETITOR in SMART PARTS’ WAREHOUSE” first copied our tubeless design years ago at a Big League Las Vegas event, they had the audacity to launch it under an abbreviation of OUR trademarked brand name: They actually called it “Ultim’Air” !!!?!
I swear I am not making this up!
One NPPL League Owner (an Attorney) SCREAMED at them for this illegal action. Bud Orr and many other Industry big guys rushed to our aid and put a ton of pressure on them to drop the stolen name abbreviation. Really. Is this the kind of business tactic we all want to rally behind?
10) During 2009, this Chinese knock-off brand was publicly displayed and used with our own ULTIMATE AIRBALL PATENT NUMBER printed on the bunkers. Very confusing, wouldn’t you say?
Is that fair?
Are THESE the guys we should all support and cheer for?
Should we all rush to help the French and Chinese beat down Americans, just because nobody likes Patents, just because they’re often associated with Smart Parts??
No. We need to rethink this.
EXTRA CREDIT: Ultimate Airball’s Patent dates back to the past DECADE. We innovated tubeless bunkers. Ultimate Airball bunkers have been used at the World Cup, PSP, NPPL, Mardi Gras, Spyder Cup, Aruba Madness, IAO, Ultimate Madness, Golden Triangle, GPL, etc., etc. When our superior tubeless design became the STANDARD OF THE INDUSTRY, the foreigners tried everything they could to compete, and finally gave up and illegally ripped us off.
Let’s face it:
YOU LOVE ULTIMATE AIRBALL’s tubeless design. Why? It’s the only system you’ve played on for years and years – before you knew it was stolen.
The Patent went ALL THE WAY THROUGH the multi-year approval process unchallenged, undebated, unquestioned by any competitor, because it is totally legit and they had no way to answer it. American Companies who invent, innovate, and develop superior products and systems deserve the chance to EMPLOY PEOPLE and earn a living without foreign knock-off artists forcing them to fire everybody and go on Welfare. Not all Patent protection is bad.
We’re the GOOD GUYS in this story, and WE’RE BACK.
Our much better, much longer-lasting bunkers are GOOD for the sport.
If a field operator buys a product for the same price and it lasts 5 – 10 times longer, that’s GOOD FOR THE INDUSTRY.
If American paintballers are employed in the process, that’s GOOD FOR THE INDUSTRY and the Country as well.
We’re looking forward to seeing you all at more and more League and Scenario events, including the February Paintball EXTRAVAGANZA, CPX LIVING LEGENDS (Where I will be a Blues Brother!), OKLAHOMA D-DAY, and several LEAGUE Events to be announced soon.
Above all, thanks for caring about all of this!
Craig Miller
President – Brimstone Enterprises, Inc – Ultimate Airball®
www.UltimateAirball.com
Craig@UltimateAirball.com
[...] Catshack has a follow up to this story also: From The Desk Of Craig Miller | Catshack Reports. This time, the defence is a lot stronger and other names are thrown about again, such as Smart [...]
I would just like to say to everyone that has read the Ultimate Airball story that most of it is true. I say that “Most” of it is true, only because I can’t or don’t know the true facts about a very small part of the story. There for I have to say “Most” of it is true.
I know that what Craig is saying is true; basically because I have been involved in paintball since it was started or began as tournament series or events world wide. I am or was the first real tournament construction designer that basically developed everything necessary to operate a real tournament series or events country wide. I am only telling you all this about my past so that you understand that I have been there from the beginning. I have been involved in almost all of the debates and discussions about “WHO”, “WHAT” or “WHY” something should be or have been used at certain events. In some cases the Who or the What really didn’t matter; it was all about the “MONEY” or the “Why” that would make the real DEAL. Oh yea almost forgot, it was also about who had the biggest “stick”……
I happened to be involved and totally in-between one such issue/deal, and unfortunately it turned out extremely bad and very disappointing for me and most of all, for the gentleman that happened to have the “Best” product out there at the time. We were both completely blindsided and mislead about the whole deal or should I say, agreement. Needless to say, the DEAL went south for the two of us, and the other product or bunkers got there start: not only in the ten man format, but also in one of the most successful formats to this day; “X-BALL”. That was a very big deal, and one of the very first real deals or events that would help change the tournament world of paintball.
Anyway, I am proud to have Played, Worked, and most of all to have helped build “Paintball” to what it is today; The greatest extreme sport that any of us have ever played, whether it be Woods Ball, Rec. Ball or Tournament Ball! Thank you.
Sincerely,
Rosie
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Tom Cunningham and paul forcier, Phyllis Shelton. Phyllis Shelton said: Las Vegas events: From The Desk Of Craig Miller | Catshack Reports: 9) When “the COMPETITOR in SMART PARTS' WAREH… http://bit.ly/7o9jV9 [...]
Uhh.. I’m not familiar with the whole story, but what is this?
Capitalization every fifth word, American made = Quality?, Bashing French and Chinese. (Generalization?)
Sure maybe this person doesn’t like what their competition is doing, but is this really the public statement of the head of a company?
Pretty poor. This kind of immaturity doesn’t bode well in the business world.
For over 5 days now, we have seen a lot of defamation and misleading claims all over the internet about Sup’AirBall and its parent company Adrenaline Games USA, and we want to set the record straight. We are the only inflatable paintball bunker manufacturer to attend over 15 major events per year. Over 20 leagues around the world have used our products for more than a decade and will continue to do so in 2010 and beyond.
Who we are
Sup’AirBall is the inventor of the inflatable paintball bunkers as you know them today, tubeless, stand alone, airtight. It was introduced first at the 7Man World Cup, in Toulouse, France, then at the World Cup in Orlando, Florida, in 1997, 3 years before Ultimate Airball® even existed. This is a fact, undeniable, and well documented:
APG magazine, from march 1998, page 71.
The World Cup 1997 report. There is a picture of stand-alone Sup’AirBall bunkers and this text from Bill MILLS, writing the article:
“Each year the National Professional Paintball League World Cup brings players from around the globe to see who comes out on top. Not only is the competition intense, but it is also the stage for unveiling of many new products and a meeting place for members of the paintball industry. 1997 was no exception, with new paintguns, sights, loaders, and even new fields.
Last year saw the American debut of Hyperball, an arena style paintball field with rounded pipe bunkers imported to the US by Brass Eagle. This year, Hyperball was back, accompanied by SupAir Ball. (…)”
PGI Magazine, July 1998, page 79.
Advertising from Extreme Rage, of Fort Myers, FL, showcasing a Sup’AirBall field, tubeless. Extreme Rage was at that time the official distributor of Sup’Air Ball.
PGI Magazine, page 31 and 33, as part of the Report on the 1997 World Cup.
Multiple pictures of Sup’AirBall bunkers, tubeless.
Warpig.com, Report of the 1997 World Cup.
Multiple pictures of Sup’AirBall bunkers, tubeless.
Adrenaline Games, more than meets the eyes
Adrenaline Games is not just Sup’AirBall, the standard of the industry for more than a decade.
We are also:
- FaceFull, the reference in Paintball magazines,
- The Tontons, one of the 5 oldest teams still playing today (among the Ironmen, All Americans, Bushwhackers and Mayem Tigers),
- The Millennium Series, the major European League,
We are players- pro players, recreational players, scenario players. We play speedball and we play in the woods.
Paintball is our passion and we are involved in more than one project. We love paintball and are passionate people. This is why we are involved in making the paintball fields of tomorrow. We have invented the 7man format, among others. Our Tournament Series never went bankrupt and it does not owe money to anybody.
Craig Miller made several false and misleading claims that we would like to address:
If you want to be correct, Adrenaline Games USA is a corporation based out of Pennsylvania and therefore not a foreign competitor. But let’s skip that part and go to the facts: No one was fired from Adrenaline Games USA in 2009 or in 2010, as Craig claims.
Sup’AirBall does not manufacture in the USA but does have more Americans on its payroll than Ultimate Airball®.
I do agree with him on 1 single point: “slow down and see who has done what to whom”.
Craig Miller made false accusations (being the first to make tubeless bunkers among other things) and has slandered Sup’AirBall products.
He contacted several paintball leagues and tried to “persuade” them not to use Sup’AirBall products anymore.
Sup’AirBall bunkers were made exclusively in Morocco until 2007. Sup’AirBall does manufacture a few of its 80+ references in China, which brought the cost down for our customers.
We succeeded in dropping the price of what was the NXL (now Pro field from the PSP) by 25% between 2006 and 2010. Which one of your bills dropped by more than 25% in the last 4 years?
We are disgusted by comments made by Craig Miller in his interview on the Ford Report.
Sup’AirBall is the only bunker manufacturer to donate products each year to charity events, such as Lauren’s Hope Foundation (www.laurenshope.org), as well as Church groups. We even received thanks from Troops in Iraq for products give away.
Today Adrenaline Games supports leagues all around the world financially and logistically. We do more than selling bunkers. If Sup’AirBall stops all that support, do you think the extra burden won’t affect the price and quality of play at tournaments?
In addition, we want to re-assure our customers that 2010 will be another step forward for us in bringing you the most efficient, durable, and professional products possible, a task we started on over 13 years ago. We stand behind our product and are always here to take your calls from our beautiful new office- (724) 537-5834. We have a great outlook for 2010 and the thousands of field owners we work with. You can reach us every day at our office or you can directly call our sales representatives. Our phones are here at least 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, and sales reps frequently take calls on weekends.
We appreciate you taking the time to read our response and are confident that you will see where the evil really is.
Pictures to illustrate our claims are available on other paintball forums and website.
Thank you for the reply Damien
[...] From The Desk Of Craig Miller | Catshack Reports [...]