san mai copyright ????????????

This thread was the #2 or #3 search result last week on Google for "San Mai". Today it was #5. And Cold Steel, which had not made the first page ahead of blade forums, made the first page results this week.

Again. I do not work in the computer industry and do not pretend to understand it.
 
This makes me happy.




P. McKinley said:
Ok.... This has gone way to far:

In the hope of seeking advice, I just sent a photo of a knife I'm working on to a much respected knifemaker within this community.


And, what do I receive in reply:

"Dear Peter Mckinley of PJM Knives,
I am writing to advise you that your use of the cord wrap in the making
of your knives infringes on the trademark rights of Wildertools.
I understand that you may not have been aware of this trademark or of
Wildertools' long-standing use of the Cord Wrap. Therefore, I ask that you
refrain from using the Cord Wrap to make any knife, sword, tomahawk or
related products.
Rick Marchand(Wildertools) owns the U.S., Canadian and Kazakhstan
trademark registrations and has used the Cord Wrap in connection with
knives and related handles since at least 2006. Wildertools owns the
exclusive right to use this handle construction in connection with those
products.

I ask that you discontinue the use of the Cord Wrap and any confusingly
similar trademark, and remove any references and pictures from any
websites and Social Media pages within 10 days from receipt of this
letter. Please also remove any references to the Cord Wrap in printed
materials before the next print edition or version of those materials is
released.

I also kindly ask that you post a retraction online regarding this error,
ensuring that there is no further misunderstanding within your client or
fan community. Please acknowledge receipt of this letter, and advise my
team of the steps you will take to help remedy this situation.


Best Regards,

Richard S. Marchand
President
Wildertools"

To far. To far I tell ya!

-Peter
Click to expand...
 
I met Rick Marchand in Vegas one year, my son in tow. I wodn't $%#k with his trademark EVER!!

Too bad he had sold out long before I got there, I might have been able to see more than a picture of his work.
 
ron_m80 said:
Its too bad too, Cold Steel has huge potential as an American manufacturer of knives.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, Cold Steel as a company manufactures exactly 0% of their knives, and only a very small number of models were/are made in the USA (I seem to recall they had some of their "Carbon V" fixed blades manufactured by Camillus before they went out of business?). I think one or two current (or somewhat recent) models are being made in USA, but I don't remember by who. 99% are manufactured overseas in either China, Taiwan, or Japan.

I do agree that they have some serious potential (and I'm sure their annual sales numbers MORE than confirm that as well), but at the same time, it seems that they have become somewhat of an absolute joke to serious knife enthusiasts, makers, and collectors. Lucky for them, the market is a big one, and that's probably not putting too big of a dent in revenues.

Personally, I've always placed their quality up there with imports from Spyderco, Kershaw, CRKT, etc..., if not even a little higher in some cases, but once again, the way they choose to conduct themselves as of late has just really turned me off of the brand, probably for good.
 
OK. That is accurate. Better to call them a supplier, vendor, or re-seller. I was wrong to call them a manufacturer, that may have been the "Carbon V", 1980's Cold Steel Company.
 
This thread has intrigued me as I have been involved in both patent and trademark defense and dispute. What seems to be going on here almost mirrors my experiences in the past.

The "trademark" holder of some specific detail wishes they had carte blanche use, rather than the limited protection under the actual mark. So they "imply" broader protection to all competition, hoping that most will back down under fear of legal fees. If they can successfully get most to concede, then they use that new product knowledge to expand their use and possibly new broader mark filings in the future.

I've never professed to be a rocket surgeon, but the trademark numbers that Mr. Thompson specifies in his open letter refer specifically to "(3) DESIGN PLUS WORDS, LETTERS, AND/OR NUMBERS" (wavy lines) in two of them and the third with the roman numeral III. None of them are the simple words San Mai, in connection to anything "blade". Not sure what planet he thinks these are defend-able, but it would be fun to follow court proceedings of the attempt.
 
L. Thompson = turd. I have never given cold steel a penny of my money and it's going to stay that way.
 
Similar things happen in the custom drum building community. The larger companies start putting patents on any and everything and all the variations they can. Even stuff that people have been doing for ever. Like San Mai, and cord wrapped handles. Then they start going after the smaller guys for doing what has always been done and try to make it their own, even though it never was their idea. The big companies even hang around the custom forums and when small builders post something innovative the big companies patent it. They just have the money to copyright others ideas and push people off legally. Its legal...but it smells like crap and is less than ethical. Like the rich guy who got ticked off and went after the vineyard name. Pretty scummy legal thing to do.
 
How about Chord Rap? Sounds more musical, harder to say that you stole it AND you don't run the risk of offending some functionally illiterate customers who might spell it like that anyway. ;)
Karl B. Andersen said:
I don't use Cord Wrap. I use Cord Wrap III.
Click to expand...
 
Just to make sure that everyone is onboard - The Cord Wrap thing is a joke. Canadians are just that way :)

But, that brings a real problem to mind. If Rick makes his knives in Canada during the winter, can he legally sell them without violating the Cold Steel trademark?
 
P. McKinley said:
Ok.... This has gone way to far:

In the hope of seeking advice, I just sent a photo of a knife I'm working on to a much respected knifemaker within this community.


And, what do I receive in reply:

"Dear Peter Mckinley of PJM Knives,
I am writing to advise you that your use of the cord wrap in the making
of your knives infringes on the trademark rights of Wildertools.
I understand that you may not have been aware of this trademark or of
Wildertools' long-standing use of the Cord Wrap. Therefore, I ask that you
refrain from using the Cord Wrap to make any knife, sword, tomahawk or
related products.
Rick Marchand(Wildertools) owns the U.S., Canadian and Kazakhstan
trademark registrations and has used the Cord Wrap in connection with
knives and related handles since at least 2006. Wildertools owns the
exclusive right to use this handle construction in connection with those
products.

I ask that you discontinue the use of the Cord Wrap and any confusingly
similar trademark, and remove any references and pictures from any
websites and Social Media pages within 10 days from receipt of this
letter. Please also remove any references to the Cord Wrap in printed
materials before the next print edition or version of those materials is
released.

I also kindly ask that you post a retraction online regarding this error,
ensuring that there is no further misunderstanding within your client or
fan community. Please acknowledge receipt of this letter, and advise my
team of the steps you will take to help remedy this situation.


Best Regards,

Richard S. Marchand
President
Wildertools"

To far. To far I tell ya!

-Peter
Click to expand...


Uh oh... There's a knife marketing company in recent news who happens to make and sell a cord wrapped knife... :p
80TFTC_m.jpg


Source: http://www.coldsteel.com/Product/80TFTC/TRUE_FLIGHT_THROWER_W_SHEATH.aspx
 
As we do not want to offend others who have been using the term "brute de forge" in an arguably trademarks manner, if you leave some forge finish on these blades, should you call it "dirty koku-saka?"
12345678910 said:
[video=youtube;ZfEP1yaMJk8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfEP1yaMJk8[/video]
Click to expand...
 
12345678910 said:
[video=youtube;ZfEP1yaMJk8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfEP1yaMJk8[/video]
Click to expand...

I think that my wife must've seen this video. Yesterday I tried to forge out some san-mai for a kitchen knife that I'm working on for her. Not sure what the problem was, but I ended up with a wicked-bad inclusion in the weld. When I showed it to her, she quickly (and rightly) said "no-good koku-saka". I was pleasantly surprised that she had taken an interest in my hobby and done some research on terms.

Fortunately, I was able to salvage enough of the billet to hammer out a short paring knife. I think that I may have overheated during temper though, or maybe ground the bevel too thin, because the edge keeps wanting to roll. My wife, again, was the first to notice this. As she eyed the edge of the blade, I heard her mumble "useless koku-saka". And once again, I was very proud of her understanding of the terminology.

After the failures with my laminate attempts, however, I decided to take a break and finish out a plain W2 chopper that I had been working on. I was fairly happy with how the hamon turned out, and showed it to my wife. With barely a glance at the blade, she responded "stupid koku-saka". I told her, "no, this a hamon" and started to explain the difference... but she just walked away mumbling something else about koku-saka. It's nice to know that she's taken an interest in knifemaking, but I think she was a bit embarrassed at her misuse of the terminology.

Erin
Proud Husband
 
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