The personal transport device is a self-balancing electric unicycle with a hubcap-sized wheel and footholds on either side — a sort of Segway but on one wheel and without a handle.
Over the last few years, China's capital is seeing more upright commuters zipping through traffic like minnows among migrating trout. That should be cause for celebration to Shane Chen, a Camas, Wash., businessman who invented the Solowheel in 2010.
But his "dream of creating the simplest mode of transportation meant for everyone" has left Chen, 58, neck-deep in the country's fledgling intellectual property rights system, rife with lawsuits, counter-lawsuits and so many knockoff brands that he's lost count.
"There were a few [knockoffs] in the beginning. Then last year, all of a sudden there were over a hundred," he said. "Then there were 150 of them. Now they're not even copying us — they're copying the copies. And they're selling them worldwide.
Did you also know that Solo Wheel Seattle is an "on going" thing? Seattle has become the Solo Wheel city, find out how: Solo Wheel Seattle
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