When exactly does the AXIS lock expire?

[fzla226]

Wow, you really did a lot of research. Thanks a lot. This is very bad news indeed. So we can expect Benchmade to continue to be the only brand making the AXIS lock for a long time. I still find it weird you can make slight alterations to an invention and extend the patent, you could do this indefinitely..

What I don't understand since it is an US patent why there are no knives with an AXIS lock sold in the rest of the world.
There are so many small European knife makers, why don't they make an AXIS lock.

Thanks again :thumbup:

Russian midtech maker did one. Not sure if it was authorized or not.

 

[NateReed]

I'm fairly new to the world of knives but aren't sog's arc locks and cold steel tirad very similar to the benchmade axis? Or am I way off?

Way off. The closest one is the ball bearing lock Spyderco uses in the Manix and such, and even then it's only similar in function, not design

 

[TEFL0N_D0N_81]

The spyderhole was once a patent and now it is a trademark. This can happen with AXIS lock too, right?

Wrong. Spyderco went with a trademark because they couldn't patent a hole. It'd be like me putting a patent on the color blue.

Additionally, patents are for process, not the result.

 

[Gadfly22]

Wrong. Spyderco went with a trademark because they couldn't patent a hole. It'd be like me putting a patent on the color blue.

Additionally, patents are for process, not the result.

No, I think if you look you'll find that Spyderco DID patent its hole as an opening device for a folding knife. Only when the patent ran out did they then claim the round hole as a trademark.