Hi! I run the shop KeyPCB, where I make PCBs for people. This is my first time doing a group buy/interest check. Luckily, this is fairly simple, so there shouldn’t be too many problems.
The Conic keyboard has a layout inspired by keyboards such as Preonic and JJ50. It aims to deliver a good quality but affordable keyboard. The target price is around 15-20 dollars for the PCB. It supports Alps and MX switches and uses a Pro Micro as the controller.
The group buy will start once I hit 20 people interested, but I might do it anyway even if there are less people, there might just not be as many options.
Thanks for letting me know. I tried to choose a name that was different enough from the preonic’s name, but now that I look back on it, I can see the similarity. Would I be able to say in the group buy that this was formerly called Conic so people who did the interest check could see that this is the product they said they were interested in?
I don’t really see how they’re similar? I mean barring a slight similarity in the pronunciation of the latter half of the word and that written they both end in onic. But. A name change? Why?
Also, sorry forgot to comment on the board! I’m not an ortho user personally but an affordable ortho PCB at an unconventional form factor seems like a great idea, good work.
If it wasn’t identical form factor, yeah, I’d agree. But it’s the same form factor with a fairly similar name. It’s clearly based on the Preonic, in that case.
The problem here is that:
Allowing people to use your trademark, or stuff clearly similar to it diminishes your claim, and means that you could lose it. So the choice is defend it, even when you’d rather not, or lose it. So, this isn’t “crazy”.
Jack has not involved lawyers in this. And has actively avoided it, by contacting people about it.
Yes, I understand that it sucks, and is pretty bogus. But welcome to trademark, copyright, etc laws. They can really suck.
I don’t disagree with you here on the stance, I think the bigger issue is that the trademark exists in the first place, it seems wholly unnecessary to me.
But. I digress, and I’ll stop, hoping this project succeeds, and, I’m usually the last one to engage in any form of drama so I’ll make a dramatic exit stage left!
I mean, there are a number of good reasons for it. But yes, it can cause some issues. But I know that Jack tries to be very diplomatic about issues. He doesn’t want to create hostility, at all. In fact, if you look at a lot of his actions, he wants to actively promote the community.
That would be cool! Lots of opportunities for some cool PCB artwork as well. I don’t use Eagle, but I’m pretty sure you can import graphics into that as well as KiCAD.
