Champion Bow Company

[Bigralphy]

Can anyone tell me exactly what happened to this company and why they are no longer in business? I heard a while back about some sort of law suit but I am not sure if this is true or not.
They did make some pretty nice bows.

[Mikey]

That pretty much sums it up ... they were sued over copyright infringment of part of their manufacturing process ......

They were not sued by any other mainstream bow company and I know of at least 1 or 2 companys down south that use the same process/componets in their manufacturing and they have yet to be sued ..... or maybe they have better lawyers than Champion did.

A sad end to great bow company for sure.

I really hate to perpetuate rumours ...but I heard they might get going again under a differant name .... If the quality is comparible I for one would be happy with that

[scooter]

That pretty much sums it up ... they were sued over copyright infringment of part of their manufacturing process ......

They were not sued by any other mainstream bow company and I know of at least 1 or 2 companys down south that use the same process/componets in their manufacturing and they have yet to be sued ..... or maybe they have better lawyers than Champion did.

A sad end to great bow company for sure.

I really hate to perpetuate rumours ...but I heard they might get going again under a differant name .... If the quality is comparible I for one would be happy with that
Champion is not going to be coming back under a different name. They are done..kaput...finished...It was a law suit over the moduled cams.

Scott

[RubberDuck]

I have the Mustang and she shoot great I just hope nothing major happens on it or that's the end of that.

[tony50]

i bought i champion bow model wildcat great fast bow and my brother and sons and son-in-law all been shooting champion bow for years and never a problem

[Black Bull]

Guys,Darton company took over the waranty for Champion bows,they bought the Champion co.They will honor the waranty.
Black Bull

[petew]

Black Bull:
That statement is not true. Darton sent me an email saying they were in no way associated with champion and that they will not honor Champion warranty.
I still have 1 Champion bow, they were very good but they are gone. Call a place that says Darton will look after the warranty and ask for warranty on a set of limbs, then see how fast they back track.

[Joey]

The story I heard was that one guy that worked in the manufacturing plant of one of the larger companies (can't recall which one) discovered that a part of the cam somehow didn't get a patent. So to make a few bucks, he patented it, then sued all the companies who were using it for infringement on his patent. The bigger companies like PSE and Hoyt etc. could afford to settle the lawsuit. The smaller companies couldn't, so went under. Perfectly legal, but unethical if you ask me. Just like the wheel only got a patent about 20 years ago. I was talking to the manager of Wholesale Sports in Calgary, and apparently the same guy came in peddling some new thing, and they chased him out of the store with threats of violence if he ever returned. If those places that carried the Champion line of bows still have stocked parts in the back, they may or may not give a warranty. I was told they would honour it in Calgary when I bought my Diablo. Worth a try.

[Black Bull]

Pete,sorry if I was misslead,that was the information I had from a major archery forum site.
Black Bull

[HOYTarcher]

Champion was successfully sued by John Evans from Alberta who also owned/runs Rocky Mountain Bows, if they still exist.

John had for years been trying to enforce his patent agains several companies in the US but did not have the financial backing to go after some of the larger players in the game. Whem champion began using modules on their solo cams (Johns patent) he went after them as they were Canadian and an enforcement order would be easier to have upheld against a Canadian Company in a Canadian court.

It was my understanding that the money John gained from this suit was goin to be used to fund several other lawsuits against US companies, but I haven't heard if anything ever went forward. I beleive Parker and a couple other companies are now paying royalties to use a module on a single cam.

If you search the US patent database tou can see what is actually patented.

[scooter]

Guys,Darton company took over the waranty for Champion bows,they bought the Champion co.They will honor the waranty.
Black Bull
Darton is NOT ... I repeat NOT honoring any Champion warranty.