Benchmade threatens Rogue Bladeworks to stop making Bailout scales

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Benchmade may have the legal ground to stop people making aftermarket scales, but this may not look good on them. Especially the Bugout/Bailout series have a huge aftermarket.
 
This will be an interesting thread. On one hand we have the intellectual copyright and design guardians that valiantly defend the American manufacturers and designers against the off shore hordes of intellectual thieves that steal copyrighted designs.

On the other hand, how completely dumb is it to use a manufacturer's actual NAME and actual MODEL NUMBER number as an advertising point? This would have been a much more murky case to engage if they had not used the actual name and model number. No acknowledgement of Benchmade© or recognize the name of Bugout® as they should have in their advertisement. Language like "Fits many popular knives" knowing the word would get out among enthusiasts would have made it much harder for Benchmade to define an actionable occurrence.

It only reasonable to expect Benchmade to defend their designs. It is also reasonable to think that Benchmade might be thinking of releasing their own customized covers for their own knives. As Benchmade, I would be pissed myself if someone took my scales off a knife that I designed, developed and put into manufacture and made a dimensional laser scan and fired up a CNC machine and started knocking off the designs I put in money, time and effort to bring to market.

I have some proprietary details I build into my custom cabinets, but I cannot keep others from copying them. But I CAN keep someone from shilling their product saying "DRAWERS FOR PRIME RESOURCE CONSTRUCTION CABINETRY" that would make it seem I was OK with them using my company name to promote their product. Even then, I probably would have problems defending that if they advertised as "fits many popular custom cabinets" and then waited for someone to ask in a Q&A if they would indeed fit PRCC cabinets, with the answer being "yes".

Yes, some will no doubt think that loss of income from the sale of scales shouldn't bother Benchmade, or even think that BM will get some kind of black eye for engaging in another famous trope of going after the little guy that is just trying to get by. But I remember all the ruckus stirred up here when people thought, just thought, that some off shore companies stole the Axis lock from BM. No one stole anything; the licensing agreement expired. I remember the gusto with which thread respondents encourage BM to "go after" and to "defend" their property. Will those same guys defend BM for doing that now?

I think this thread will tell a lot about the respondents...
 
jideta said:
what's next? Ti clips?
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If it is promoted for sale using Benchmade's name, Benchmade's model number, and if it uses exactly the same dimensions but is only a different material, you bet. In court, in some cases, screw holes used on thousands of knives and their dimensions don't count. I had a friend that invented a plumber's tool that found out all he ever needed to know about patenting, copyrighting and intellectual property.

If someone machines a clip that doesn't look exactly like a BM product, and isn't marketed using the BM name, and no BM model refenence with it seeming to be a BM product, good luck in court with that. Clip makers abound now that smartly use the phrase "works with (fill in knife company here) (fill in knife model here) "and many others". In that case, there is no use of the Benchmade name itself for specific promotion, nor is there an idea of exclusive use. Most important, no use of the BM name to sell the product.
 
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I find it kind of weird for BM to be going after a US based company making after market scales when Chinese companies are making and marketing complete counterfeit BMs.
But Law firms always go after the easiest to serve. I trust that this will get resolved through negotiation.
Would like to see if they will now go after the numreous other aftermarket scale makers.
 
I’m not an IP attorney (the subject has always mystified me and I steer clear), so this may stem from my confusion, but does Benchmade really have a design patent on flared handle scales? What about the figures on page 1 of the above letter is unique or patentable?

Here is a link to the patent. And here is a link to the Google patents page with a little more info. [Sorry, just saw that this was already linked.]

Doesn't "prior art" apply to design patents? Aren't there tons of examples of these type of flared handles dating back decades?
 
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Could this be more about how Rogue is advertising them; than the custom scales themselves?
Prety crappy thing for Benchmade to do...
 
I think BM is making a big marketing and PR mistake. I don’t see that BM themselves sell Bailout scales separately on their own, so it seems to me that aftermarket customization would increase the sales of their own products. Cut that market off, now they’re making their own product less appealing to those buyers who like to customize. I’m not seeing how BM is being harmed here. I think they’re harming themselves much more. UNLESS they have some kind of licensing agreements with other 3rd party scale manufacturers that we don’t know about that Rogue is refusing to participate in - that’s the only reason I could see Rogue being singled out.
 
KenHash said:
I find it kind of weird for BM to be going after a US based company making after market scales when Chinese companies are making and marketing complete counterfeit BMs.
But Law firms always go after the easiest to serve. I trust that this will get resolved through negotiation.
Would like to see if they will now go after the numreous other aftermarket scale makers.
Click to expand...
What from little I know of law, if domestic law is a nightmare, then international law is nightmare swallowed by eldritch horror and vomited into the interstices of the soul. I doubt Benchmade has the clout to go after a foreign company - or it may simply not be worth the money.
 
I haven’t bought a BM knife in years, other than the bugout BECAUSE I could get aftermarket scales.

I’m now 100% out on any benchmade products. It’s disheartening.

I bet all these aftermarket scale makers helped BM sell a ton of bugouts. I don’t like when “big dogs” try to bully smaller makers. Also, pro 2A my butt.

Hey BM…maybe stop using grivory as a handle material?

Edit to elaborate on my thoughts…

BM knows full well that people will make ti/cf scales for their knives. But what do they do? Advertise it as the greatest new knife and then put plastic scales on it to maximize profits. Why? So that they can put out a limited “Gold Class” with ti scales and maybe inserts, at a premium price? Or a limited CF and charge ridiculous prices.

BM should figure out how to stop their pocket clip screws from backing out, make a knife that is easily re-assembled and use current and wanted materials. Focus on sharpening, blade centering and bladeplay.

Oh, and stop cutting up firearms.

My thoughts only.
 
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This is a pretty crappy look for Benchmade, but consider what if Benchmade was gearing up to take the Bailout to their custom shop with CF and/or titanium scales as options? They could probably prove that they’ve lost sales revenue from custom Bugouts due to the proliferation of aftermarket scales for that knife. They may be trying to strike proactively at Rogue.

I’m not saying I like the move, but I can understand it from a business sense.
 
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