Are They Keeping Members In The Dark?

Well... we have an official response from the AOPA as regards our questions over the discovery that they were being sued by the Aero-Pariahs formerly associated with FlightPrep. AOPA's Katie Pribyl was kind enough to respond very early this morning and we submit her response in its entirety -- such as it is.

Statement:  Lawsuit on Alleged Patent Infringement

On July 29, 2013, SD Holdings, LLC (SDH), a Washington corporation, filed a patent infringement lawsuit against the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) in the U.S. District Court of Oregon. The lawsuit relates to the alleged patent infringement for AOPA products that employ interactive online flight planning and flight planning software.

In the lawsuit, SDH alleges that AOPA has infringed on two patents. The inventors listed on the patents include Roger Stenbock and Kyle Everson.  According to records in the Secretary of State's office in Washington State, SDH was formed as a business entity in 2012 and according to the incorporation records, "Flight Prep" is listed as a "Member" of the new company.

AOPA categorically denies the allegations of patent infringement as well as the validity of the patents, and AOPA intends to defend itself vigorously.

"It is a shame that AOPA must expend valuable resources to defend ourselves against these meritless accusations.  Like others before us that have had to fight similar accusations related to this same series of patents, we are providing valuable flight planning tools to the community that help keep general aviation safe, affordable and fun," states Ken Mead, AOPA's general counsel.

We agree that its a shame... but we also wonder how much grief that they might have avoided had they declined to compete with the many good businesses that already had VERY GOOD products in the category... and had they not offered such a questionable sweetheart deal with a company that does not have the best rep in that industry segment, to boot.

As always, we'll stay on it and keep you informed... but the upcoming, last, AOPA Summit should be VERY interesting.

FMI: www.aopa.org, www.scribd.com/doc/156963774/SD-Holdings-v-Aircraft-Owners-and-Pilots-Association