[bender]

No, becasue they weren't the first to use that style anyway.

I don't believe you can patent any one idea such as this, afterall all manufacturers are using some relatively common ideas and components that were not originally invented by themselves.

I find it interseting to note where some of the current "popular" trends in rc car design have come from - many new innovations are very old ideas which have been simply "tidied-up" using modern materials and manufacturing techniques.