When is everyone okay with copying designs?

[RX-79G]

This always comes up with Chinese knife brands. Clearly, it is not cool to copy a patented item and then bring it into the US. But there there's all the folks that feel it is intellectual property theft when a company makes a knife that is similar in shape to an existing one. Here's a vaguely Sebenza like knife from Sanrenmu that bothers many people here:

Similar in shape, very different in details and materials. But it seems to get some people's blood boiling that Sanrenmu used the layout of this 26 year old knife.

I was reading the big hollow handle survival knife thread, and came across the work of Greg Wall:

Greg's website says:

I love to make the vintage Randall style knives ,Survival ,Attack. Airman, as well as knives styled after John Ek Fighters

http://www.wallhandmadeknives.com/#!about-me
Randall is still producing knives.

Along the same lines, Chad Nell makes a business of crafting what he calls "Loveless style" knives, like this classically styled Loveless Drop Point Hunter:

http://www.nellknives.com/Drop-Point-Hunter.html

And, of course, the most copied design ever (Buck 110) in it's almost as famous Schrade LB7 form:

Do these knives also get the blood boiling, like when Chinese maker does this?

 

[The Aflac Duck]

We all know about them...
We all (almost all) despise them...
We just don't discuss this often because the discussions usually end up very political and nauseating.

 

[RX-79G]

We all know about them...
We all (almost all) despise them...
We just don't discuss this often because the discussions usually end up very political and nauseating.

So all the Buck 110 copies and "Loveless designs" are just as reviled?

 

[egally08]

Loveless wrote books and put his designs out there to be used. You can hardly compare him with CRK, especially since Chris Reeve is still making knives, and Robert Loveless is not.

 

[zhyla]

Nobody gets upset when they see a chefs knife that looks JUST LIKE another chefs knife.

 

[The Aflac Duck]

So all the Buck 110 copies and "Loveless designs" are just as reviled?

I guess you could say all Ti framelocks are copies of the sebenza too by that reasoning.
And all liner locks are copies of Michael Walker knives.

I thought you were talking about Chinese clones? Not makers that pay homage...

 

[boondocks45]

I for one don't have a problem with it. I think if you really want the real thing you might be willing to dish out the money for it. If not go cheaper and lower quality. So many knife makers and companies have reproduced a well known design from time to time. Bob loveless's iconic drop point hunter? Never seen anyone remake that one. Jimmy lile's first blood knife? AG Russel remade the drop point. So did Bob Dozier. For myself and only speaking for me, I don't mind it.
Granted some were licensed to carry that design. But there are a slew of copies out there, and I really believe that if you love that design you will come to buy the original. So it might just turn out to help more than it hurts.
Just saying.
Here's one more, the woodlore knife designed by non other than Ray Mears. Now everyone is trying to make something like it. The bushcraft knife.

 

[boondocks45]

The wall knife isn't a Chinese clone. He makes a pretty good knife by the way.

 

[craytab]

When is everyone okay with copying designs?

At no time will everyone agree to be okay with anything.

 

[Rasco]

Here's a vaguely Sebenza like knife

lol

 

[rio]

I find the knockoffs a bunch of thieves and crooks, knockoff is to me a knife that looks very close to a knife from a stablished company or maker, a maker making a knife liked a bowie well there is thousands of versions and they all copy, as long as it is their version of any desing and is not an identical copy is ok to me.
Stop calling knockoffs clones , they are ripoffs ...

 

[R.c.s]

For me as long as its not being past off as an original knife I.E its a KA-BAR or a spidico when it is.t . their are Lot's of designs copied around the world buy some good company's designs like . the buck 110 and kukris . tantos . fairbairn & Sykes . bowie knives and I am sure their are lots of others to

 

[jobasha11]

This isn't some new "revelation" that you had. Its been discussed to death, and if your actually interested in what others think on the subject simply look up one of the many threads on this exact same topic. But it seems like you're not actually interested in others opinions, you just like to argue with people.

 

[jill jackson]

Here's a real clone, nothing vague about it.

 

[jill jackson]

The Schrade LB7 got a huge pass because it was before there was computers even, with knife communities to rally around the unjust cloning practices. Also there wasn't many good production knives being made back then. Schrade did change the design some and many consider it a better knife to this day than the 110, because it's supposed to be built heavier. I remember people having them and pulling them out around Buck 110 owners and not a word was said.

 

[RX-79G]

Loveless wrote books and put his designs out there to be used. You can hardly compare him with CRK, especially since Chris Reeve is still making knives, and Robert Loveless is not.

Randall is still making knives.

 

[RX-79G]

The wall knife isn't a Chinese clone. He makes a pretty good knife by the way.

Is China the difference? Is an SRM 710 a clone? It is about as different from a CRK in materials and details as the Schrade is from the Buck.

This isn't some new "revelation" that you had. Its been discussed to death, and if your actually interested in what others think on the subject simply look up one of the many threads on this exact same topic. But it seems like you're not actually interested in others opinions, you just like to argue with people.

No, I didn't have a revelation. I am interested in the mental line in the sand that people use to distinguish "homage" from "copy", "clone" or "rip off".

I think it is also possible that looking at the shape of two simple objects and becoming concerned that they are two similar might be a very recent craze. Did anyone ever write scathing letters to Guns & Ammo when the first Ruger Blackhawk came out? Today we casually use the names of knife inventor's to denote a style of blade without a second's thought. "Nessmuk".

Sorry if I missed the other threads. The search feature doesn't always return what you're looking for, and I don't live on this forum.

 

[Porschephile]

There's a cheapo Ganzo that is literally a carbon copy (low carbon, obviously!) of that orange-scaled LionSteel.

The Chinese government has an 'interesting' policy on protecting Chinese products from copyright law even if they're a direct copy - anyone remember the fake BMW X5s that the government said were nothing like the original at all?

 

[Sonnydaze]

Here's a real clone, nothing vague about it.

Well, perhaps the "IDAHO MADE" refers to Idaho, China. IIRC, there is/was a town called USA in Japan that sold a lot of products that were labeled in that manner.

Yes, would be nice to "mightily discourage" imports of this sort...

 

[B34NS]

I'm sure pre-dynastic Egyptian knife makers would have a word or two...a few thousand years ago that is