U.S. Patent Violation

D

Derek

Joined
Oct 6, 1998
Messages
376
Hello all,

This is a rather unpleasant situation that I have been alerted to. All previous conversations have been posted below in the event that they should disappear later.

It seems that Andre De Villiers, a South African Knifemaker, has decided to infringe upon Emerson Knives patent #5,878,500 for the Self-Opening Folding knife or "Wave" feature as it is more commonly known.

As you can see below, two years ago, Mr. De Villiers asked if he could use or liscence the Wave feature. Ernests' answer was a resounding "No". This is further evidenced below.

It would seem that Mr. De Villiers has chosen to ignore and disregard our company stance on this matter as is evidenced by the "Bush King Wave" for sale on www.knifeart.com.

By U.S. law, customs can seize any items imported into this country that violate U.S. patents. As we are now aware of this matter, the proper authorities incuding U.S. Customs and our legal department will be notified.

This really comes down to a matter of, in legalese, "Due Diligence". In a nutshell, this means that if we do not protect our intellectual properties against all violators, even a small custom maker, we can not prosecute say Buck Knives (this is in NO way insinuating that Buck Knives has anything to do with this matter, simply a large entity cited for the sake of example) for infringing on the same intellectual property. This is called selective enforcement and is not tolerated.

If it seems like we are taking a rather hardline stance, we are. We must protect our patent. Further, we do not take lightly the fact that we were asked and subsequently denied use of this specific property. We will prosecute, friend or foe, any entity infringing on our protected rights that we paid dearly to establish. It is a matter of honor, something that we take VERY seriously here at Emerson Knives. This standard of conduct will not be condoned or tolerated in the slightest.

I hope everyone is once again aware of our stance on this matter and will not suport these efforts with their hard earned money.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,
Derek R. Russell
Sales Manager
Emerson Knives, Inc.



The original question as posed by Andre;

ADV
Basic Member

Registered: Apr 1999
Location: South Africa
Posts: 13
wave patent
Firstly I must say the Wave is a fantastic idea.Well done, Ernest Emerson.
I have been asked by a customer to build one of my knives with the wave feature.
I would like to know if I can request permission, or pay a royalty to use it.
Can anyone give me the specs on the patent or any other info
Thanks, ADV

The question answered by myself;

Derek
Basic Member

Registered: Oct 1998
Location: Redondo Beach CA USA
Posts: 414
Andre,

I just spoke to Ernest on the phone in regards to your question. This is quite a common question as I found out. There will be something soon in print/type that will sum this all up. Possibly posted on the website.

It is Emerson Knives Inc. company policy to disallow any use or liscensing of the Wave feature. This answer is given to EVERYONE, friend, foe, or otherwise. The reason is that the Emersons cannot set any type of precidence for reproduction or liscensing that could be argued in a court of law that could show any type of favoritism.

That is pretty much the long and short of it all. If there is anything else that I might help out with, let me know.

Take care,
Derek Russell

The final word from Andre;

ADV
Basic Member

Registered: Apr 1999
Location: South Africa
Posts: 13
Thank you for your response
I would like to know about the info on the actual patent, as many knives with a large thumb ramp, could be made to open in this way.
 
I wonder if he got the OK from Spyderco to use the round hole on the other knife shown?
 
"it is a matter of honor" looks like Andre has no honor. Im sure no one here will buy this knife. Best of luck with the lawyers. Shame it has to come to that.
 
I have to be absolutely honest. I wish EKI would License the Wave Opener. I think the world would have been a different place without Mr. Glesser of Spyderco Licensing pocket clips, etc. It is innovative.

This is because I love knives and it is said out of love and respect for the Design.

All of that having been said, the Wave Opener was designed and popularized by Ernie [E.E./EKI] and it is HIS, period. He can choose to do with that design as he wishes to, that is The American Way! It matters not how much I love knives or would like to see other Makers use this as a Licensed Feature on their wares.

The fact remains, it is Ernie's and that...is...it.

If there is one thing that I cannot stand it is something like this. A Xerox Machine. A Man that profits off of the sweat of another is a Man that cannot be trusted in my opinion. And the opinion of many others.

We see this all the time in this business. When Ernie closed the door on the question posed to him, that should have been it. But no, someone thinks they are above it all.

I hope Customs confiscates every single one of them. I hope that can be accomplished. It's not just Ernie's Interest in this matter, it is Our interest in this matter as Americans. It is someone who wants to snub their nose at Our laws that protect our Inventors and that cannot and should not ever be tolerated regardless of my want for anything...or anyone else's want for anything.

110% behind this, bust him up.
 
License and copyright protection and enforcement is a very serious matter. Derek's correct that allowing small infractions can lead to large infringements.

When we did the Usual Suspect patch project,it was critical to obtain permission to use EKI's primary logo type in the design. Further, I personally felt that making a clear profit, just didn't feel right.

It's tantamount to stealing a man's reputation. As we all know, a high reputation requires honor to build. Those that have no honor, will attemp to steal it from those that do.

-S
 
I am saddened by this, I heard that he was a decent maker, but if he is going to do something immoral and illegal like this, I am very disappointed.

I hope this can be taken care of quickly, and easily.
Take care,
Reed
 
http://store.yahoo.com/knifeart/bustac.html
I assume this is the website you guys are refering to.
I don't really see why everyone is so bent out of shape. I don't see a WAVE on the knife, It looks more like a Wave-Less knife then anything actually- I used to have a Wave-Less Rhino Commander that looked similarly. Furthermore, I dont see WAVE writting anywhere on the page. (I just read a post here on BFC where people were saying this guy actually had the audacity to use the word "WAVE" in his ad.) Did Blade Art quickly change the wording after the **** hit the fan here? I really don't understand why people are so flaming mad over this. Yeah, if he copied the Wave after getting expressely told not to do so, he is a prick and should be sued, I just don't see this knife as having a Wave. Does anyone else agree with me, or am I off my rocker:confused:
 
Chris,
In the dynamic internet, things can chage fast. Larry of Knife Art has already taken down the knife in question. It did have a self- professed "wave opening" device.

-S
 
Gentlemen,

I was not aware of the sensitivity or background involved with this issue. I have decided to pull this item from my page.

I express my regrets for listing this item on KnifeArt.com

Sincerely,

Larry Connelley
 
Indeed. But Larry is not the source of the problem anyway. The person that made it knows better because apparently he asked for permission, permission was denied so he decided to do it anyway. [That's balls.]
 
DEREK

Is Emerson's Patent an American only patent or a world patent?
It is very difficult to enforce an American Patent in a foreign country.

Bodycote spends more then $250,000.00 each year renewing and enforcing our Worldwide Patents for Boron Carbide (B4c).
We feel this money is well spent to protect our investment and our coating processes.

If Bodycote can be of any help with advice on enforcing your patent
let me know I'll put you in touch with someone at Bodycote that deals with this all the time. GOOD LUCK

Darrell Lewis
Dlewis@bodycote-na.com
 
...or I may be the first, but I agree with Don. The patent must be protected. It is however revolutionary, please share it, for a modest fee:)
Or at least put it on ALL EKI's :)
 
First off, good show, EKI. The sheer BALLS on DeVillers astounds me. I'm glads he's being taken to task for such blatant disregard for other people's hard work. Don has it right - this guy is a Xerox machine - nothing original to be had. Just stolen ideas. I for one will NEVER buy any of his work. Chris - as it was posted, the waved knife WAS there, but Larry took it down (good job, man!)

I don't know about EKI having a world-wide patent, but they should look into it. As it stands, something that was imported into the US infringes on a legal US patent. It'll ALL be confescated, I hope.
 
You know, I have done a bit of looking around on the net and I have run across several dealers selling Mr. De Villiers knives. I also looked at Mr. De Villiers own website.

The odd thing is that I did not see one other waved knife or any other Bush King knives for that matter on any other site.
 
i agree w/emerson, ya gotta do something - example - rolex watches allowing every tom dick and harry to make/import/sell fake rolex watches w/impunity - well no more - rolex and cartier is prosecuting the hell out of fakegifts.com, an internet site selling fake rolex, cartier, etc - a real gem, this guy, rolex warned him for 2+ yrs to stop, now he is in jail, i presume - they arrested him in april '01, bond, $100,00 - he bragged on his site 'the FBI can never catch me' cuz he was his own server, etc - well, they did.........


sifu
 
How can I contact Derek or Ernie at EKI by email? Official one (info@emersonknives.com) doesn't work for me as nobody is responding... :(

Piter M.
(the only guy that tries to sell EKI knives on the web in Poland...)
http://www.guns.com.pl
 
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