We used to pay a knife customizer to convert select Case knives to automatic. The knives we used were either knives we purchased or knives purchased by the converter. We had a dozen or so converted Case knives when Case threatened us with a lawsuit for "trademark infringement", for customizing a knife already purchased from Case by a distributer, retailer and end user. I told them their assertion was ridiculous and pointed out the customization of everything from cars to clothes with no manufacturer EVER claiming the RIGHTFUL OWNER of their product customizing their product. (Except CASE) They continued to harass us for months. I told them to be prepared to spend MONTHS in court as I provided the jury with never ending examples of customized goods, of every type, from Ebay with no threat of "trademark infringement" because the rightful owner should be allowed to make any customization they chose to any product they owned and sell it, if they wished, without paying any royalty to the manufacturer. They disagreed and would not relent, nor would I, so I told them if they didn't want me selling converted Case knives, the cheapest and easiest thing to do would be for them to purchase all of our converted Case knives at full retail price with my promise never to buy or sell another Case product. I made this offer to the superior of the law dog they sicked on me and he agreed immediately, leading me to believe he recognized the folly in their legal assertion. It was a pain in the ass and an insight into Case knives management but, in the end we made a handsome profit and, as promised, haven't bought a Case product since. What a win for Case, huh??
