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Oval and Triangle opening holes?
- Thread starter DaveH
- Start date
- Joined
- Oct 3, 1998
- Messages
- 4,842
I think Sal has stated in the past that the patent covers round holes, but Spyderco may also have patents on other shapes.
Gerber has used a jellybean shaped hole, I think without license from Spyderco. Benchmade used a round hole in the AFCK, licensed from Spyderco. My theory on why they've switched to the oval hole is that the license ran out and Spyderco isn't renewing licenses to competing manufacturers. If that's true, then the oval hole isn't on license from Spyderco.
I've tried all these holes, none of them work as well as a round hole so far. equipped.com points out that the oval hole makes sense, since the tip of your thumb is oval, not round. But what happens when you open the blade? The blade rotates, so the hole rotates, but your thumb doesn't want to rotate at the same pace, so the oval doesn't work as well.
Joe
Gerber has used a jellybean shaped hole, I think without license from Spyderco. Benchmade used a round hole in the AFCK, licensed from Spyderco. My theory on why they've switched to the oval hole is that the license ran out and Spyderco isn't renewing licenses to competing manufacturers. If that's true, then the oval hole isn't on license from Spyderco.
I've tried all these holes, none of them work as well as a round hole so far. equipped.com points out that the oval hole makes sense, since the tip of your thumb is oval, not round. But what happens when you open the blade? The blade rotates, so the hole rotates, but your thumb doesn't want to rotate at the same pace, so the oval doesn't work as well.
Joe
The patent has expired, right? I vaguely recall something about the hole being trademarked, but I'm not sure how that affects other companies use.
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Sal Glesser
Moderator
- Joined
- Dec 27, 1998
- Messages
- 11,753
Hi Dave. The "hole opener" patent expired last year. While the patent was in force, Gerber and Benchmade both paid royalties on the "hole opener" patent, as did Camillus.
Most of the other companies found "loopholes" in the patent that they could use to avoid paying royalties.
The shape of the hole was a little different. Spyderco trademarked the "round hole" as a signature of Spyderco.
This means that when someone uses a round hole, they are trying to "imitate" Spyderco. We can and do defend against that. That's why you will see holes of all shapes, all of which do work, but we be round only.
We do own patents on the diamond and arrowhead hole opener. Timberline pays royalties on the diamond.
sal
Most of the other companies found "loopholes" in the patent that they could use to avoid paying royalties.
The shape of the hole was a little different. Spyderco trademarked the "round hole" as a signature of Spyderco.
This means that when someone uses a round hole, they are trying to "imitate" Spyderco. We can and do defend against that. That's why you will see holes of all shapes, all of which do work, but we be round only.
We do own patents on the diamond and arrowhead hole opener. Timberline pays royalties on the diamond.
sal