The Patents are NOT joke - the company that I work for was involved in quite a few battles from both ends regarding patents, and rest assured these are not a joke.
If a company owns a patent for a product that is now copied by and sold as "mako" (or "pursuit"), then the patent owner has plenty of legal actions to go after the patent infringement. The fact that the product is manufactured in Asia and only sold under the mako brand doesn't protect mako from a law suit.
If somebody can post a link to the patents that mako (or pursuit) is in infringement for, then the discussion would move on a more professional level. In absence of that information, this post could be seen as pure envy for ones success and a lame attempt to bash a competitor.
As for the mako products: the only ones I bought are the floppers at $5 a piece, and some rubber. I won't comment on the rubber, but the floppers initially looked poorly designed and I got a bit frustrated as I got at least 20 of them. However after installing them on 5/16 shafts they proved to be great.
Regarding the guns: one of my buddies has one, and after holding one I realized why a few folks complained about accuracy: the loading tab is pushing the hand "low" hence loosing the euro handle advantage. After removing the loading tab the gun became more accurate. Big problem, small fix, but shows a lack of understanding of basic euro guns features.
I am impressed by their large barrel. Noisy due to the Al rail, but impressive none the less. Unfortunately it does push the shaft a bit higher and that doesn't help with accuracy.
As for suits: the vast majority of my suits are bought from scubapro.com (Spain), shipped to NY for a total of $170 for apnea suits 3.5 mm or 5 mm, Cressi. Not the best suits in the market, but i get a few years out of them. Same as band rubber, most neoprene comes from the same sources and it is of only a few types. Paying for the camo pattern, inner lining (if any) is a taste I still have to acquire.
I have a huge respect for IP (proven IP through a patent), so let see where Mako is at fault.
Regards,
Stefan