Hovercraft Ripoff Report

Neoteric Hovercraft, Inc., Indiana, USA reports numerous unlawful offenses committed by Hi Tech International, S.r.l. of Gorgonzola, Italy. These offenses include:

• Industrial and economic espionage / theft of technology and trade secrets:
  Hi Tech International, S.r.l. counterfeited the Neoteric Hovertrek™ and its patented components through an illegal process known as “splash molding”, and is now marketing these counterfeit hovercraft as their own design.
• Plagiarism; intellectual property/copyright infringement:
  Hi Tech International, S.r.l. initially plagiarized the entire www.NeotericHovercraft.com web site. Although HTI has been forced to remove much of the plagiarized material from their web site, some still remains. HTI's downloadable sales brochure was plagiarized from Neoteric, and all technical diagrams of HTI hovercraft that appear on the HTI web site www.hovercraft.it are, in fact, plagiarized from Neoteric Hovercraft.
• Trade disparagement; libel:
  Hi Tech International, S.r.l. has engaged in email campaigns disparaging Neoteric Hovercraft, Inc. with false and misleading representations of fact.

There is unanimous concern within the hovercraft industry that Hi Tech International, S.r.l. is threatening consumer safety by marketing hovercraft with no track record while fraudulently representing them as having the more than 40 years’ tested history of Neoteric Hovercraft, Inc. In fact, HTI has existed only since 2001, with much of that time devoted to the counterfeiting process.

This concern is amplified by the fact that even after their offenses against Neoteric Hovercraft, Inc., Hi Tech International, S.r.l. urgently solicited the assistance of Neoteric engineers to solve the problems suffered by HTI’s rescue hovercraft - grave problems such as exploding fans. This particular hazard resulted from HTI's installation of a 145hp engine in a hovercraft that is not designed to carry an engine of that power. A fan exploding from a 145hp engine can be a life-threatening incident.

Neoteric Hovercraft, Inc. wishes to warn rescue agencies considering the purchase of a Hi Tech International, S.r.l. rescue hovercraft that there is wide concern that HTI's Hoverescue Model 425, Hoverescue Model 525 and Hoverguard Model 725 may endanger the lives of first responders as well as the lives of those they are tasked to rescue. Regretfully, HTI’s counterfeit hovercraft are in use by rescue agencies such as Gloucestershire Fire & Rescue Service in Gloucestershire, UK.

The following links document the offenses committed by Hi Tech International, S.r.l. and explain the threats to consumer safety resulting from these offenses: