I'd like to address some of the remarks regarding the “American Tomahawk Company” name to clarify the confusion that exists in this thread, about this issue.
Cold Steel registered the mark "American Tomahawk Company, est 1992" nearly 10 years before I approached Peter LaGana to discuss the new American Tomahawk Company. Neither Peter nor I were aware that Cold Steel ever registered this mark. In fact, I am not aware of any industry professional, magazine editor, or advertising professional, that was aware of it either. It was never used in any Cold Steel product catalog.
In April of 2002, nearly one and a half years after our investment in developing the brand name, "American Tomahawk Company", Lynn Thompson contacted me to inform me that I was infringing on his intellectual property.
We sought counsel from Intellectual Property attorneys, who concluded that Cold Steel's failure to ever use the mark as well as its "supplemental” status on the trademark register, (i.e. not on the principal register) made it clear that Cold Steel was not entitled to exclusive use of the mark. Additionally, our American Tomahawk Company had right of first use as well as proof of investment in developing the brand name within the purchasing public. We communicated this position to Cold Steel. Nonetheless, Mr. Thompson demanded that my Company purchase the mark for an exorbitant amount of money to avoid legal action.
In an attempt to preclude the cost of litigation, I submitted a proposal and payment schedule to Cold Steel, which was ultimately refused. It was immediately after those discussions ended that Cold Steel began to print “American Tomahawk Company, est. 1992” labels and attach them to every Tomahawk they marketed and sold, which to my understanding, were all imported and remain imported.
This dispute never rose to any formal legal complaint. Cold Steel continues to use the mark.
We have received nothing but support from countless industry professionals regarding this issue. Cold Steel’s products are of excellent reputation and Lynn Thompson should be credited as a pioneer in this industry. However, we don’t see eye-to-eye on this matter and probably never will. If anything, Cold Steel’s recent use of the mark helps them sell their own imported Tomahawks, which has on several occasions resulted in the customer believing they bought something from us. Therefore, their use of the mark doesn’t help me sell mine. However, many people don’t want to spend over $100 for an axe. For those customers, there is Cold Steel.
