For those of you who expressed support for me on this issue or at least were willing to believe that maybe my intent wasn't an outright rip off of Emerson's Wave(R) design, I thank you. For the rest of you who were willing, even anxious, to see this vile miscreant sued within an inch of his life and maybe farther I would tell you the same thing I told Ernest Emerson himself this afternoon had any of you bothered to ask me.
Emerson, by the way, is a gentleman and I very much appreciate the fact that he took the time to call me himself rather than have a lawyer do it. The first thing we agreed on is there is too much useless litigation going on. It is my opinion that the only people who really benefit from it are the lawyers.
We discussed the patent concept in general. Thirty years ago, when I was in college, patents seemed more specific to me than they do now. Then, you could patent a toaster because of the exact way you built it but you could not patent the concept of toasting bread. That's why there are a lot of toasters on the market, all patented, all built differently, and yet they do the same thing.
These days, I'm not so sure that interpretation still applies. The Patent Office seems willing to grant much broader patents. My stance on the Pocket Hook was basically this: I was already making them when the first announcement about the Wave(R) appeared in Blade magazine. To me, the Pocket Hook looked like a better idea because it was not built into the blade. That might make it different enough to not infringe on Emerson's patent, I thought. At any rate, I figured I'd keep making them until someone told me to stop. Let me also clarify one point: I said I was already making the Pocket Hook - I didn't say I was making it before Emerson made the Wave(R), only that I was making it before he announced the Wave(R). It takes a long time to get a patent so I assume he had the design considerably in advance of the announcement and very possibly before I came up with the Hook. That's OK too. Alexander Bell got to the patent office only an hour or so ahead of the OTHER guy that invented the telephone. Same thing with Marconi and the radio. Happens all the time, no big deal.
I knew that just because I was making them before Emerson announced his patent did not mean I could continue to do so if the Pocket Hook was in fact violating the patent. We discussed how some overseas companies run around looking for good ideas like that that are not yet patented and then go and patent the idea themselves. That may seem unfair to some people but it is legal and I know that. I fully expected that someday that very thing would probably happen to the Pocket Hook but I don't care. I still think it's a good idea but I never intended to patent it myself. Patents are too expensive and take a long time and I just don't care enough to do it.
So, while I came away from our conversation still not 100% sure if Mr. Emerson considered the Pocket Hook an infringment of the Wave(R) patent I did find out about a new patent, as yet unannounced, for a removable type of Wave(R) device. That patent, even I can see I would be violating so I readily agreed to cease and desist making the Pocket Hook. I do look forward, however, to seeing the Emerson version to see if he found a way to make it attractive because I agree with the guy who said it was ugly. That it is - but it works soooo good!
For what it's worth, I think the Pocket Hook is a great idea but the truth is it was not easy to sell to customers. It was very hard to get the idea across to strangers about how it worked and how cool it was. Over the last 3 or 4 years I probably sold fewer than a dozen to strangers who had never actually seen one. Most of the ones you see on my website were made for people who know me and have handle the knives equipped with the Hook. Further, they aren't that easy to make so I'm not going to miss them much. I had already stopped selling them in California and Massachusetts because I came to believe they might violate the switchblade law there.
For those of you who feel that Emerson might need your help in protecting his interests, if you'd care to check my website in a few days you'll find a disclaimer there that will say something to the effect that although you may see the Pocket Hook in the pictures for a while yet, it will no longer be available.
Again, I'd like to publicly thank Mr. Emerson for the gracious way that he handled this issue (almost apologetic actually). Given the chance, two reasonable people can usually solve their differences without resorting to the courts.
In conclusion, if you like my designs and want a high quality handcrafted folder at a reasonable price please check out my website. If you want a Pocket Hook or similar device, then see Mr. Emerson. He makes good knives too....
