I have come across people who could not tell the difference between my Emerson CQC-7B, Spyderco Endura, and Cold Steel Voyager from their knock offs.
Exactly!
These people assume that the genuine Emerson is the same as the cheap knock-off. And that hurts Mr. Emerson's image and reputation. Legally, it's called, "confusing the market."
but they are generally not illegal.
A true knock-off in which the original design has been followed closely, in which distinctive features are copied, in which copyrighted, trademarked, or even patented features such as The Wave, are duplicated, such a knock-off CERTAINLY IS ILLEGAL. Legally, it is called, "infrignment," and/or "theft of intellectual property." Theft!
Certain basic patterns have been around for a long time, and just because one company popularizes a style, doesn't mean no one else can make anything like it.
That depends... Mercedes Benz has been making cars with a logo that consists of a three-point star in a circle since 1921. There everywhere. You see them on the road all the time. It's a "popular style." And I can assure you that if you started up a new car company and started to make cars with a similar logo, you'd be in court before the paint was dry on your first floor model.
The fact that something has been around a long time, the fact that it's popular, does NOT make it public domain.
There are some aspects of a knife that are generic and quite public. I'd have a hard time patenting a new invention consisting of a metal bar ground to a sharp edge on one side. The Patent and Trademark Office would say, "Sorry, no. That's public domain." Some shapes for a blade are also generic and public domain. The classic Tanto, for example. You couldn't patent it; you couldn't trademark it. But if someone comes up with a distinctive new shape, then that can be patented and/or trademarked.
Like it or not, Mr. Emerson has been granted a patent on "The Wave." If you don't think that he should have been granted that patent, then you can challenge it in court. There is a legal procedure for that. But, "I don't like it," or "I don't like the fact that he's now charging more money for it than I think it's worth and want to buy it at a cheaper price," are not good reasons for the courts to invalidate a patent. You may not like it, but until a court invalidates it or until Mr. Emerson abandons it, Mr. Emerson does have a legal patent on The Wave. Any knives that incorporate that feature as defined in his patent ARE illegal.
The person who buys a $30.00 Strider look alike is not the target market for Strider.
Then why did they buy it?
Of course they're in Strider's target market. What is Strider's "target market" if not "people who want a knife like this..."
If you want a Strider knife, but you can't afford one, that's not Strider's problem. That's your problem. You either have to decide that you're not going to be able to afford that knife and set your heart on something else, or you're going to have to save your pennies until you can. But to go and buy a rip-off of Strider's design is to penalize Strider for your problem.
Here's an interesting question: Why do some companies make knock-off knives instead of designing their own?
Maybe it's because they don't have the tallent to design a creative, innovative knife. But that's because they're to cheap to pay for a designer or to buy a design from an established designer. So, they just steal someone else's design. But that is outright stealing. If you're to cheap to buy your own car, does that give you the right to just steal someone else's? Of course not.
Maybe it's because they don't want to have to pay to advertize and market their own knife. They'd prefer to must ride the popularity of someone else's work. But, again, that is downright stealing. If you're to cheap to buy your own car, does that give you the right to just ride along with anyone else you choose who happens to be going in the direction you'd like to go in? Of course not.
or
Maybe it's because they want the prestige and reputation that the other brand name has. They don't want to put in the effort to develope their own brand and their own reputation, so they just make a product that looks like the other brand's and hope that people will assume that it's the same. But, again, this is stealing. You're stealing the good name and reputation that the other brand has invested in for years. If you're drowning, do you have the right to grab onto someone who is swimming by and pull them down with you? Of course not.
But, it was all summed up quite well by my friend Mr. Simonich, "folks that dont mind the rippoffs have never done anything in their life that they can call their own." A perfect analysis. I've said it before, but I'll say it again: there's a sharp mind under that big hat.
) or Case offer inexpensive knives that will provide professional levels of performance -- you can do real work with them, even if they aren't as polished as more expensive versions.
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