Sal has posted in the past that in order to get the round hole registered as a trademark, he had to prove substantial brand recognition. That is, he had to demonstrate that people seeing a folding knife with a round hole for opening identified it as a Spyderco knife. Since the round hole was in fact registered as a trademark of Spyderco, it would appear that he did indeed prove such brand recognition.
Sal has posted in the past that Benchmade was licensed to use the round hole on the AFCK, as long as they aknowledged that it was a registered trademark of Spyderco. That contract was annulled because Benchmade did not aknowledge the trademark to the degree that Sal required. In light of that, I doubt that he would grant them permission to use his registered trademark on the Vex without aknowledging it as such.
What I find both amusing and disgusting is that a few weeks ago on the Benchmade forum, there was a thread about a counterfeit Stryker, and everyone thought that was a bad thing. It was a near copy of a Benchmade Stryker, made by another company, with Benchmade's trademark on it. Much like the Vex is a near copy of a Spyderco Starmate, made by another company, with Spyderco's trademark on it.
Either you support trademarks or you don't. You can argue all you want about whether or not you think the trademark should have been granted in the first place. Your opinion has no effect on the fact that it was granted, and was in effect at the time the Vex was introduced. If that doesn't make any difference to you, then it should be all right for KIA to use the Mercedes logo on their cars, or for any unknown company to put the Benchmade butterfly logo on their $2 knock off. The trademark means nothing, and that's all there is to it.
Personally, I find both that bogus Stryker and the Vex to be utterly reprehensible, and for the same reasons. I expect that sort of behavior from the overseas knock off artists who counterfeit anything they can make a buck on, but I expect a little more respect from major American makers.
So let your conscience be your guide. My conscience has guided me to boycott Benchmade.
). That is an interpretation that came after the fact. The Mercedes star is far older than avionics. The Wright bothers had barely made their first flight when Mercedes was using already their three-pointed star. As a matter of fact Mercedes first trademarked TWO different designs because they couldn't decide which one they would use. One was a four-pointed star that has an uncanny resemblence with the Lincoln trademark. The reason why Lincoln and Mercedes never got into each others hair about it, is the fact that a trademark must be actively used in order to be enforeable. Mercedes never used the four-pointed star and hence lost their rights to it. A trademark works very differently than a patent. But who says that a trademark needs to have a meaning? The only meaning it has to have is that a customer comes to identify a company or product with a certain symbol.
:thumbup:
.