Knock Off Alert!!

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hkcathk

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Oct 26, 2002
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Dear Members of the Knife Community,

We are the Handmade Knife Collectors Association of Taiwan and Hong Kong composed of a large group of knife collectors who strive to educate beginners about the merits of high-end production and handmade custom knives and to help maintain a fertile environment for collectors, producers, and sellers of cutlery locally. Our group holds dinner meetings and outdoor gatherings regularly and we have a strong Internet presence.

It has recently come to our attention that Linton Cutlery Co., Ltd ( http://www.lintonknife.com / https://www.linton.com.tw ) will be attending the New York Custom Knife Show this year and the 2003 SHOT Show AS AN EXHIBITOR and we felt it was in the interest of all to make the following report:

a) Linton Cutlery Co. is one of the largest producer to "knock-off"
knives in Asia. Some of the companies they are currently copying works from include Strider Knives, TOPS Knives, and Ontario Knives.

b) Linton Cutlery Co. has publicly stated on their website that the reason they have copied the works of Strider Knives and TOPS Knives is that by doing so, they can use the knives as samples to negotiate OEM contracts with the aforementioned companies. We know this is not true because Linton Cutlery has already produced a great number of these knives and has been selling them in their own stores (including internet store), through cooperating retail channels, and by mail order catalogs. All of these knives bear the Linton "arthropod" logo.

c) Linton Cutlery Co. not only copies knives, but also fabricates and sells products that are illegal in Hong Kong and Taiwan, such as daggers, push daggers, and automatic knives. Even though we knife collectors understand that such laws are unreasonable, we still abide by them and shun those who break them in that these illegal activities may endanger the future of knife appreciation. The above reasons have earned Linton Cutlery Co. an exceedingly bad reputation locally among knife consumers and retailers.

d) Linton Cutlery Co. website uses text plagiarized directly from other websites. The "Absolutely no sales to minors!" passage seen on the bottom of their website's opening page is cut and pasted from the Top of Texas Knives website (http://www.toptexknives.com ). Linton Cutlery Co. did not even bother to remove "Top of Texas Knives" from this passage. See for yourself at www.lintonknife.com

In today's world, where intellectual property is considered one of man's greatest assets, we cannot sit idly and not admonish those like Linton Cutlery Co. for their unscrupulous activities. Their current operation not only damages the reputation of the knife community in Asia but also threatens the integrity of the global knife market. We have attempted to provide as much documentation as possible and hope our letter gives you some insight on Linton Cutlery Co. But we hope you can take a little more time to learn about Linton Cutlery Co. for yourself, either personally at their table or via the internet through their websites: www.lintonknife.com and www.linton.com.tw. We also strongly urge you to pass this letter (either by email forward or in printed format) on to those you feel may benefit from this information. Or if you have own/operate an internet forum, please feel free to transpose this document in its entirety.

We have included several pictures below that compare the real deal with the Linton Cutlery Co. knockoffs:

STRIDER TIGER: http://www.striderknives.com/knives7/tiger-mainpic.jpg
Linton Knockoff: https://www.linton.com.tw/products_images/L-91009.jpg

STRIDER HT: http://www.striderknives.com/knives2/ht-mainpic.jpg
Linton Knockoff: https://www.linton.com.tw/products_images/L-91012.jpg

STRIDER MG: http://www.striderknives.com/knives3/mg-mainpic.jpg
Linton Knockoff: https://www.linton.com.tw/products_images/L-91013.jpg

STRIDER WB: http://www.tadgear.com/edged tools/wb10.jpg
Linton Knockoff: https://www.linton.com.tw/products_images/L-91011.jpg

STRIDER PAB: http://www.striderknives.com/knives4/pab-mainpic.jpg
Linton Knockoff: https://www.linton.com.tw/products_images/L-90007-A.jpg

TOPS Hawk Recon: http://store5.yimg.com/I/topsknivesstore_1706_28296
Linton Knockoff: https://www.linton.com.tw/products_images/L-90008.jpg

Silver Knight: http://www.ss-knife.com.tw/web/w_knight's-2.htm
Linton Knockoff: http://www.topmascot.com.tw/product-all/product_01.htm

Ontario Jager: http://www.knifecenter.com/knifecenter/ontario/images/aJager.gif
Linton Knockoff: https://www.linton.com.tw/products_images/L-89001.jpg

If you will be attending either the New York Custom Knife Show or the 2003 SHOT Show, we hope you can print this message in its entirety and share it with your fellow attendees and exhibitors, including those companies whose designs have fallen prey to Linton's thievery.

Linton Cutlery Co. is on the official table list for both the New York Custom Knife Show (Nov. 1-2, 2002) and SHOT Show 2003 (Feb. 13-16, 2003 / Booth #6987) per the shows' websites. Strider Knives will be attending the NYCKS; Strider Knives, Ontario Knives, and Knight's will be attending SHOT 2003. We also hope you can send letter or emails to the shows¡¦ organizers to share your feelings about this situation.

The following is the contact method for the show organizers:

New York Custom Knife Show
2169 Jones Ave.
Wantagh NY 11793
Tel1: (516) 781-5515
Tel2: (631) 549-5191
email: nycustknife@aol.com

SHOT SHOW 2003

-Organizers
Reed Exhibitions
383 Main Ave.
Norwalk, CT 06851
Tel: 203-840-5600
Fax: 203-840-9600
e-mail: inquiry@shot.reedexpo.com

-Owners
The National Shooting Sports Foundation
11 Mile Hill Road
Newtown, CT 06470
Tel: 203-426-1320
Fax: 203-426-1087
e-mail: info@nssf.org


Please direct any further questions or concerns about this post to the following email: hkca_thk@hotmail.com

Thanks you for listening,
The members of the H.K.C.A.-Taiwan, Hong Kong
 
Originally posted by rev_jch
hmmmmmm..interesting!!
Click to expand...

So interesting, he said it twice! :footinmou

BTW, those are amazingly accurate reproductions of the Strider knives! They use really cheap materials, but I'd buy some to hang on my wall!

That is, if they didn't charge about as much as a REAL Strider! :rolleyes:
 
I'm certain that they'll receive exactly the reception that they deserve @ the NYC show.
 
Much of the information that has been provided here was already known to me, but I thank you for filling me in on those details that I was not aware of.

I am sure that our NY members that are going to the show will let this company know exactly how they feel about their business practices.
 
Woa! Thats pretty crazy. It's actually kinda embarrasing to flip around on their site and see that horrible copy of a disclaimer at the bottom of their page. Every one of their links has a big red lettered sign saying "I COPIED THIS PAGE FROM SOMEONE ELSE AND I HAVE NO ORIGINAL IDEAS!". Wow, thanks for the warning. I guess there are people out there always looking for a free ride.
 
Maybe someone should buy one of the Linton knockoffs, bring it over to the Strider table, and have the Strider guys chop it to pieces. :)
 
They even do some 'rip off' Chris Reeves lookalikes that sell for more than the real thing! Unbelievable cheek of the damn' fellows. Ought to be flogged don't'cha know!!

Doug
 
Anybody else find it peculiar that these guys post this message all over the boards, and never come back to reply or anything? And, convieniently include actual links to where you can buy these ripoff knives. How handy! :barf: I have read this in at least 3 different internet sites, and several people are starting to believe this is some kind of sneaky way of actually advertising these ripoff knives. The thread that was started by these guys on Knifeforums has been locked for the very same suspicions. HMMMMM?:barf:

If I'm wrong about this, I apologize, but I have a funny feeling about this.
 
Thank you for being concerned about our post. We would like to make it
known that the case we have brought up against Linton Cutlery Co. are
real and serious; we thought this was obvious through the
documentation we have provided. The purpose of the links are to provide evidence for the serious accusations we have made; imagine the letter without the links, it would look like a troll's post.

This letter has been posted on all 4 major internet knife discussion
forums in a way that hopefully no one misses it because we don't want anyone to miss it. It has also been sent via email to many knifemakers including all those attending the NYCKS as well as to various important groups in the knife community such as large dealers, distributors, suppliers, and media.

We have received a plethora of industry responses with extreme concern about these Linton characters and they are all sending responses directly to the show organizers in attempt to bar Linton Cutlery Co. from both of the shows they're trying to attend.

The HKCA is organizing responses from individuals and forums to these
emails and threads and will be sending them to the show's organizers.
The message to the show's organizers will also include the negative
responses our members have had through direct dealing with Linton
locally.

There is no doubt that Linton Cutlery will eventually sell some of their knives. In fact, there will always be a market for knockoffs. This is not our primary concern. Our primary concern is that Linton Cutlery Co. does NOT get international recognition by being allowed to exhibit at the NYCKS and SHOT shows next to Strider Knives, etc
 
I have the same peculiar feeling. How come there is no address or phone number for the HKCA in the post? I also tried a Google search and came up blank about them.
 
phwl: Please shoot us an email: hkca_thk@hotmail.com. We do not have a webpage. All information is available via private email as it would not be prudent to post phone numbers (of private members) on the public domain, especially on a post like this one where serious accusations have been made against a local company. Sincerely yours, Robert
 
Originally posted by Danbo
Anybody else find it peculiar that these guys post this message all over the boards, and never come back to reply or anything? And, convieniently include actual links to where you can buy these ripoff knives. How handy! :barf: I have read this in at least 3 different internet sites, and several people are starting to believe this is some kind of sneaky way of actually advertising these ripoff knives. The thread that was started by these guys on Knifeforums has been locked for the very same suspicions. HMMMMM?:barf:

If I'm wrong about this, I apologize, but I have a funny feeling about this.
Click to expand...

the same thought crossed my mind, but i think these guys are legit, either way i don't see how you can really bar this company from exhibiting at the knife shows, after all they are real knife compnay
 
I of course in NO way condone what linton is doing, and consider it horrible. Any time I've based a design off someone else's work(did NOT do straight copies like this), I also was very clear where the designs came from. So think this is horrible.

But I must admit I laughed out loud seeing that horribly copied disclaimer. :)
 
Mr. hkcathk,

Thank you for bringing this to everyone's attention. Hopefully, a long string of BF.C members will stop by Linton's booths at both shows and give them an earfull.

If Linton is violating the patents, copyrights, or trademarks of US companies or makers, those companies and makers should complain to the US Customs Service. Customs can, and will, actually come to their booths at the shows and impound all of their merchandise because it was illegally imported. Therefore, I suggest you contact the companies and makers in question and suggest that they make a coordinated effort to do this.
 
If those guys make Mick and Duane mad, they are going to be up the creek without a paddle in a BIG way!!!! :(
 
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