No, they gave up because their product was not successful enough in the marketplace.<p>It so happens that I'm familiar with them because I was in the market for camera slings within the past couple of months. I shopped around. There are a lot of different suppliers- from RainbowImaging, which seems to be a guy in hong kong to the R-strap. Luma was overpriced and while it looked like really nice hardware, their web page was a bit incoherent and I couldn't figure out the important things I needed to learn about such as whether their product would fit my frame or not, and other details. I ended up going with a wrist strap, but if I had gone with a sling, it is unlikely I would have bought theirs.<p>Given that there is plenty of prior art- I know I flirted with camera slings myself, well before 2007- and they didn't cite the patent (That I could see) so we don't even know if the patent covers the sling nature (or is just an extension or improvement on the concept) crying foul like this is absurd.<p>Frankly, the patent office does a basic check on the claims, but they are not a prior art vetting service. You can patent things that don't exist, like a perpetual motion machine, or things you haven't really reduced to practice- like a method for mining moon rocks on the moon. (or at least you can do this if you're a bit clever in your wording)... but that doesn't mean you actually have a patent on them. The patent isn't really real until it is vetted by a court.<p>I could sue luma labs because I find the word "luma" to be offensive. ITs unlikely I'd win and it would be a stupid suit, but I could do it. I could even, if I were willing to spend the money, potentially keep luma tied up in court for a decade, until they go out of business, with pointless lawsuits because I had a vendetta. this is due to the inefficiency of the court system, nothing more. I wouldn't need a patent to do this.<p>Luma decided to stop supporting their old product and think they have a better product coming. That's great.<p>Its just disingenuous to blame it on a competitor who hasn't even sent them a cease and desist!