That so sucks! Do you have any proof that you came up with that first, like sold them locally to the coop or other climbers? Armand Dubuque came up with compression springs for Tele bindings first and Voile and Rottefella copied him. Voile paid him off right away because they are a super cool company! Rottefella said but Armand did hire a lawyer who went into it for a percentage and Armand got some free publicity from either Backcountry or Couloir Mag and Rottefella paid off to avoid bad publicity. We could raise an internet stink and lawyers don't necessarily need upfront $ if they think the case has merit. I mean you are talkin' a valuable idea here. The fact that you have to shatter one of those bars and then warm it in your mouth before you can chew it is the reason I do not buy Powerbars.