copying a makers or manufacturers design

J

jrgannon

Joined
Aug 24, 2000
Messages
393
what is everyone's view on copying another maker or manufacturers (chris reeve, strider, benchmade, etc.) design. to clarify - it would not be a scenario where you are counterfitting or saying the knife was made by that maker but rather - this is my version of "xyz" knife where 90% of the design is the same with maybe some minor changes that you view as improvements. this would all be disclosed up front. its almost like you are paying homage to a model/design that you like by copying it with your version of slight improvements.

is this ok to do?
are there any issues with copyrighted or patented designs?

would be interested to hear some comments.
 
Depends... Are you stating that you have made "your version" of this design?

For example; Loveless style knives are recreated regularly by many makers, but most of them say something like; "Loveless style" in the description. The Loveless drop point hunter is a favorite of mine and I have sold several, but they are named "Loveless drop Point Skinner Style".

It's fine to do, just make sure you give credit to the original maker, as you've said you would... My 2 cents...

Charlie
 
+1 to the above.

Only thing to add is that misrepresentation, deceit, and flat out lies hurt much more than the maker accused of such. None of this is directed at you, you clearly stated your case and I see no issues with it. I'm just speaking of past conflicts I have witnessed. It can hurt the knife making community as a whole. When a custom maker is working with a potential customer he (or she) is selling a piece of themselves. When we buy custom knives we expect everything the maker says about their knife to be true and valid. Mostly because the buyer has no way to verify what is being sold. Kind of like "custom, hand made knives" from premade blanks or "5160 steel" that is just truck leaf springs an hasn't been verified as such. These things can make any customer "gun shy" about any maker. As you stated in your question, just be sure to give credit where credit is due and all will be well.


-Xander
 
Loveless didn't mind folks copying his work. Some makers do. You should contact the maker and ask permission. Also, are you selling the knife for profit, or are you just making yourself one?

For example, please don't copy mine.
 
Fiddleback gave good advice. Another point of view shared by many: we have about run out of new designs....no matter what your design is, there is a 90% chance, or better, that that design is already out there and has been for some time. Still, if its a recognizable design, I would ask...
 
There's very little that is new under the sun. I've discovered that some of my radical new ideas on knife design were in use over a hundred years ago. It's a natural process to take ideas from different sources and meld them together.

Having said that, it is simple courtesy to acknowledge your debt to those who have inspired you. Especially with folders one must be careful not to violate patents. And to mimic another's style in whole is unacceptable to me without permission.

I've been working on a fixed blade design which included a handle based on an out of production Spyderco folder. I was trying to decide how different I needed to make the handle so as not to cross an ethical line. In the meanwhile I emailed Sal Glesser asking permission to use the handle in a for profit knife design. He gave me permission with the request that I acknowledge Spyderco's role whenever describing the knife. Problem solved. If he had said no I would have kept at the design until I felt it was distinct from it's predecessor.
 
I would tend to agree with mountainbilly and fiddleback. as far as i am concerned, in the small time custom world, as long as you ask, you are probably OK. I have asked several makers if i can use mutated versions of their knife handles, and both said yes. there are some cases where i would be against copying designs, like if your design was based on a spyderco knife and it went into production. at that point, you are taking the other person's design and putting it into a very large amount of knives. however, if you are making a few of them, i don't think it matters that much.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top