Rick Hinderer's Modular Kuboton/Pen copied

SAR

SAR

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Bottom line up front: I am not one of Rick's customers, I have nothing in my collection of Rick's and I am just another maker in search of some truth in this matter. I know that Rick would like to post up something like this but it would put a negative light on Rick as just bitching...so I will do it for him gladly.

Objective in this thread

To expose a company that has and will continue to take other designs from custom makers.

That they lied about any knowledge of Ricks Modular Kuboton


One of Ricks customers found this thread at Knife Forums in the SB area and brought it to the attention of many and of course Rick. Who as you can imagine is kinda pissed off about his Modular pen idea being used, the one reason I could not let it go.

http://www.knifeforums.com/forums/showtopic.php?tid/824462/all/1/

To view the whole thread

http://www.knifeforums.com/forums/showtopic.php?tid/824462/

In the end they shut the thread down very fast before anything could be brought to light, I think it deserves the attention of the largest knife forum in the world for the greatest amount of exposure.

Bottom line they told Rick "HEY BRO... Its a Pen Let it go."

I am sure as this thread rolls along it will expose some very interesting things about the SB company and how they have a history of ripping off or attempting to rip other makers designs. I know of a few makers that went to his table at Blade 06 to look at several really good copies of some prominent makers work. I have heard about some plans to develop a "Bottle Bezel" care to comment on that.

So my quest in all this is to find out what "Intellectual property" is worth, as long as I have been into knifemaking (4 years) I have known of Ricks Modular kubaton pen.

Notice how I underlined the word Modular


See that,s what separated Ricks pen from others, so this guy comes along decides to build a "Modular pen" in a "pelican case" sounds familiar to me.

http://www.rickhindererknives.com/ look under personal protection

For some reason I am having problems with the pictures of the table shot of blade 06 showing many copies of others work

Rick good luck with this problem
 
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I would like to add......please try to quantify your statements


How is it a blatant copy? is it the fact that its made modular, or packed in a pelican case or that it looks close to another kuboton?

What is it that really bothers you about this subject.

Spencer
 
I do know one thing. I know that Rick is a friend of mine and he would give you the shirt off of his back. The pen has a enough similarities to be suspect. Unless this guy has lived in a cave for the past few years he should have seen the pens. If he has been anywhere near the internet or any major shows,or done any sort of research, he would know that Ricks pens and kubaton's exist. I guess he has not done enough research to know that Tinives, Speed Tech and Kershaw has been using the splash type lll anodizing on their knives for years.
The only way we will ever get these guys to stop is to have hundreds of people to go to their table at the major shows all at once and shame them out of the industry. I went through the same thing a few years ago and had I not stood up for my self, I would have been another maker who had fallen victim to these types of people. I have seen this many times over. They ALL plead ignorance!!!!!

Rick, if you want to visit these people at Blade, just say the word and I will walk side by side with you where we can see one up close and have a chat with them.

Bobby
 
There is clearly some glaring similarities there.

That guy is also a member here under the same name.
 
What really bothers me about this is that this guy has done it before! Claiming ignorance is not really possible. Rick has been making these pens for a few years now and I hope to own the real thing in time. They do not come any tougher! :thumbup:
 
Here are a few pictures....not mine of his table at blade 05 or 06?

ripfg8.jpg


rip3qz3.jpg
 
I was the one who tipped Rick off about this...as Spencer has said, the blatant ignorance about not knowing a product like Rick's kubutan existed for the number of years he's been making them is sketchy to say the least. However, the problem with having a dicussion on a forum where your work is respected and thus people don't know much of the 'outside world' is pointless....here is much better venue as there are a huge variety of members from all backgrounds, who buy all sorts of things.

Brendan
 
SAR said:
Here are a few pictures....not mine of his table at blade 05 or 06?

ripfg8.jpg


rip3qz3.jpg
Click to expand...

are these the copies at the hinderer table?


from reading the thread, it appears mr. hinderer has patents on his products. the similarities are obvious, and the "new" maker has attempted to split some hairs and define his product as something entirely different.

"yours is a kubotan first, pen second. mine is a pen first, kubotan second."

honest mistake? its possible he had never heard of the hinderer kubotans. other members claim similar, which i find odd.
 
MORIMOTOM said:
are these the copies at the hinderer table?


from reading the thread, it appears mr. hinderer has patents on his products. the similarities are obvious, and the "new" maker has attempted to split some hairs and define his product as something entirely different.

"yours is a kubotan first, pen second. mine is a pen first, kubotan second."

honest mistake? its possible he had never heard of the hinderer kubotans. other members claim similar, which i find odd.
Click to expand...

No, those are the copies at Roger's table (aka, swissbianco).
 
The above pictures are from BLADE 06 I believe. SwissBianco had made a copy of the HAK/Hideaway Knife without permission. The pictures show SwissBianco's table with the HAK copies.
 
So...I don't understand how someone can claim they never have seen Ricks pen or his pen set and come up with what they did. Unless your a complete rocketscience/genius/prodigy whatever... I don't think you can randomly come up with the idea of..a modular pen with different end pieces, that (this is what gets me) comes in a waterproof box with lasercut foam insert!!!! ha ha ha!
And for someone to say "its a pen, let it go." The pen is not the problem. If that was the case then you would have seen Rick doing the same thing to SureFire, Benchmade etc. The problem here is someone copied or "unknowingly" produced a modular pen just like Rick's WITHOUT consulting him first. Let me say this in response; Dude- you don't get it! Ricks pen is known around the world, literally and is carried by soldiers, cops, firefighters and everyone in between. For someone to steal his ideas and try to market it as his own is pure shit, just not even ethical at all!
The fact that SwissBianco has a history of copying products is enough proof that this is a pure copy! When you look at things like how the pocketclip is held in place by a threaded end piece and how the clip is practically the same as Ricks..ya. you didn't come up with that on your own.
So...James Nowka... Hey Bro, I hope you go out, buy one of Swissdudes pen, go to use it and...ya enough said!
As for the rest of you; Buy Hinderer!!!! A battled proven product made in the USA from one hell of a great guy!
 
Rick is one of the nicest, honest and hardworking guys there is. He spends a great deal of time developing, modifying, and perfecting HIS OWN designs and his dedication and devotion shows. If a Maker asked Rick for the OK to do something similar I believe he would help without hesitation as long as the finished product is not a clone.

This guy can change the way the top opens, change the type of refill and change the way it's packaged, it is still a clone. He can change the damn color, change the name, change the materials, even use pencil lead but in the end it is still a blatant copy of a Hinderer made product!!!!
 
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caveman4tw said:
No, those are the copies at Roger's table (aka, swissbianco).
Click to expand...


Wow!!! I can identify almost every knife on the table as a design of someone else.

A Maker will never be a maker if he cannot make the results of his own designs developed from his own imagination.
 
caveman4tw said:
No, those are the copies at Roger's table (aka, swissbianco).
Click to expand...

Gotcha. I thought he meant mr. Hinderer had a collection of copies displayed for info purposes.

Given that this guy has a history of design theft it is hard to believe he made his stuff without prior knowledge of the hinderer products. Combined with his efforts to rationalize his own.
 
Bobby Branton said:
I do know one thing. I know that Rick is a friend of mine and he would give you the shirt off of his back. The pen has a enough similarities to be suspect. Unless this guy has lived in a cave for the past few years he should have seen the pens. If he has been anywhere near the internet or any major shows,or done any sort of research, he would know that Ricks pens and kubaton's exist. I guess he has not done enough research to know that Tinives, Speed Tech and Kershaw has been using the splash type lll anodizing on their knives for years.
The only way we will ever get these guys to stop is to have hundreds of people to go to their table at the major shows all at once and shame them out of the industry. I went through the same thing a few years ago and had I not stood up for my self, I would have been another maker who had fallen victim to these types of people. I have seen this many times over. They ALL plead ignorance!!!!!

Rick, if you want to visit these people at Blade, just say the word and I will walk side by side with you where we can see one up close and have a chat with them.

Bobby
Click to expand...
Hey, if I get to go to Blade, I will also walk with you both.
 
wolfmann601 said:
Rick is one of the nicest, honest and hardworking guys there is. He spends a great deal of time developing, modifying, and perfecting HIS OWN designs and his dedication and devotion shows. If a Maker asked Rick for the OK to do something similar I believe he would help without hesitation as long as the finished product is not a clone.

This guy can can the way the top opens, change the type of refill and change the way it's packaged, it is still a clone. He can change the damn color, change the name, change the materials, even use pencil lead but in the end it is still a blatant copy of a Hinderer made product!!!!
Click to expand...

I wholeheartedly agree...the concept is the same, so it's safe to say that he *probably* looked at Rick's pen as inspiration, and instead of doing the honourable thing and telling Rick, he's decided that this was going to be 'his' idea and die with that thought.
 
So the same guy who was ripping off the HAK's , Microtech ( ok , no biggie there , since they have also infringed on another makers idea ) and other , and now he claims ignorance of Rick's work ?

Total BS. The guy is a thief and a liar. Did anyone post the picts of the stuff from Blade over on that thread or anywhere else ?

It's a copy of Rick's thru and thru , from the idea all the way to the completed product. Disgusting.

Yup , Atlanta should be interesting this year for sure.
 
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