Can You Trust Your Fishfinder?

Post by **WB Staff** » Mon Jun 19, 2017 7:34 am

Lowrance DownScan Imaging vs. Garmin ClearVu.
One product has true downscan, one doesn’t
Check out this video to see how hard it is to get an accurate picture of what’s under your boat when you don’t have a down-facing element in your transducer.

Can You Trust Your Fishfinder?
Before Lowrance invented and sold the first recreational sonar product for fishermen in 1957, many anglers focused their time on the water searching for gamefish near or around the shoreline. The reason is simple: When you can see fish-holding structure along the bank of a lake, you are more confident in locating key fish-holding areas. The Lowrance Fish-Lo-K-Tor – also known as the "The Little Green Box" – changed all that. Using this portable, battery-operated device, fishermen gained the confidence they needed to move off the shoreline with a whirling dial of red lights that could define depth changes, and mark underwater structure as well as gamefish. While this first fishfinder was simple in design – requiring a considerable amount of training to use effectively – it changed the way we fished, and it definitely helped put fish in the boat. Today, when a marine electronics company announces a "ground breaking" fishfinder that delivers a meaningful benefit, anglers take notice. And that's where our story begins.

In 2014 Garmin launched DownVü, a feature that gave anglers a photo-like image of what was directly beneath their boat. Rocks look like rocks, trees look like trees and fish look like fish. It represented a game-changing sonar technology. The problem – DownVü technology isn't a Garmin original design. It was a duplicate design of Lowrance's DownScan Imaging™ – the same technology offering the same features and benefits. DownScan Imaging had been designed, patented and brought to market by Lowrance's parent company Navico years before. Rather than develop their own solution or license the Navico technology – as other marine electronics manufacturers had done – Garmin took a shortcut that resulted in a 2015 ruling by the International Trade Commission (ITC) stating that Garmin's DownVü transducer design infringes upon Navico patents, and those DownVü products could no longer be imported into the United States.

mark poulson · Post by **mark poulson** » Mon Jun 19, 2017 7:39 am

Didn't a very recent (last week) court ruling reverse the decision, and say that Garmin wasn't in violation of patent law?

kopper_bass · Post by **kopper_bass** » Mon Jun 19, 2017 9:29 am

Yes they did.
article here: https://www.tradeonlytoday.com/2017/06/ ... st-garmin/

Freefall · Post by **Freefall** » Mon Jun 19, 2017 9:45 am

WRB · Post by **WRB** » Tue Jun 20, 2017 8:59 am

If a patent is only applied for the US without international applications the only products mfr'd or sold in the US are protected. In addition only 8 member international countries honor both US and international patents. Garmin is a US co with headquarters in Switzerland and mfg in Taiwan.
My 1st Flasher was the green box in '61 so been looking at sonar returns on. Flashers, paper graphs, digital pixels both color and B&W for over 55 years nd yes I trust my sonar. No experience with a Garmin unit just Lowrance and Huminbird.
Tom