I am divided on this. On one hand, the HXT connectors were similar, but not exactly like Deans. Deans had shortcomings (poor grip area) and HXT addressed it. But then again, Deans should get off their butt and design a better connector to meet today's needs.
For giggles, I went to the
patent office to see when the Deans patent expires, but after reading about 2 paragraphs of long and borrrrriiiing text, my eyes glazed over and lost interest. Wow, I wouldn't have thought something as simple as a basic connector would require so many words!