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Chris Williams knife tried to rip me off for $5,150

stabby stabington said:
Damage, I have not read the entire thread, but don't sweat this guy too much. I hope that you were made (mostly) whole. He's selling stuff through Orvis, and I wonder how Benchmade feels about his violating their trademarks and patents... and selling direct in the US! I can't imagine that Perk Perkins would look too kindly on such blatant IP/trademark/patent violations.

Someone should give Perk and the nice people at Benchmade a call. Perhaps an email with some screenshots. I wonder if anyone knows Perk Perkins? ;)

Please edit/delete if this is not germane to the discussion or violates BF terms:

http://www.orvis.com/store/product_search_promote.aspx?keyword=williams+knife&sp_cs=UTF-8
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I find it odd that Benchmade has done nothing, they're either too busy or there's some loophole or something preventing them from taking action. Maybe because it's a knockoff of ganzo not Benchmade? It's funny that he's making knockoffs of a knockoff, isn't the ganzo knife Chinese? Is it because China has no patent/copyright laws? Is that the loophole?
 
Damage109 said:
I find it odd that Benchmade has done nothing, they're either too busy or there's some loophole or something preventing them from taking action. Maybe because it's a knockoff of ganzo not Benchmade? It's funny that he's making knockoffs of a knockoff, isn't the ganzo knife Chinese? Is it because China has no patent/copyright laws? Is that the loophole?
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There is no legal distinction between the two (copy of (a copy)). Both are a violation of BM's patent(s). Ignorance of the law is not a defense, but certainly he would assign blame to his supplier and claim ignorance.

I am going to email David Fee as we went to grad-school together.
 
China deals exclusively with every body & every country ;) It can cost a company $$$$$$ to try to stop intellectual & physical properties! Some times it's just not cost effective
 
I don't know if they actually patented or trademarked the design of the knife Ganzo copied. Is it even possible to trademark the design of a knife? Perhaps they can only sue if it had counterfeit Benchmade logos on it.

There are so many knives that look very similar as many designs have been done time and again. I also heard something about Benchmade's patent on the Axis-Lock expiring. (I am not sure if this is true). I am no legal expert when it comes to knife copyrighting but it seems to me that if someone made say I straight clip point knife with a rectangular wooden handle, how could they copyright it? Perhaps it is the same thing with the outline of Benchmade's folder. I too was shocked at first that Benchmade didn't do anything but perhaps they do not want to draw attention to the counterfeit.
 
Ankerson said:
The blades would have to be lab tested for alloy content, grain structure etc to keep things above board and honest (legal).

The knives would be sacrificed however in the process.
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Waiting to hear back from Crucible, thanks again!
 
Pardon but I beg to defer, the blades just need to be examined by any competent forger that can make note of the inferior workmanship, inclusions, bad welds etc. the mix of steel would be unnessasary since good knives can be made of many different carbon steels, 10XX series, old Railroad or auto spring steels with two different steels so there is contrast when etched. if forged & heat treated properly! It's the crap workmanship and ridiculous pricing along with his misleading advertising you want to present to the BBB or Judge depending on where you want to go with this. A analysis of steel will just be Greek to them.
 
Yeah! Tracy of USA Knife makers sells a quality kit for a an Oyster knife for a hell of a lot less than what CWK's charges!

Get a Router, a Book match cut set of wooden scales of your choice, Some 24h Epoxy and you can Shuck & Jive all the Oysters you like!;)
 
Damage109 said:
http://www.qcexclusive.com/the-spread/williams-knife-company/

He stated he makes between 50-75 knives per week, that equals a minimum of 200 knives per month or 2400 per year. The link I've posted here he states it takes 30-60 days to make the average knife, that would mean it would take 72,000 days to make 24,000 knives. It would take him 1,500 days to make the 50 knives he claims he makes in a week. Correct me if I'm wrong.

This man has basically called me a liar but I can't makeup or change numbers, I was always taught numbers don't lie. I wouldn't want him to be my banker.
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Well Steven Segal has millions of hours of martial arts training, so you know, think about that...
 
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The BBB has no enforcement authority. It's no more use than Yelp. It will take legal action, either by an individual, a class, or law enforcement, to affect his conduct.

I would contact both the South Carolina Attorney General's office and the Office of the Solicitor for the 9th Circuit. Make a complaint that Williams is violating the SC Unfair Trade Practices Act. Be prepared to explain exactly what he's doing.
 
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It starts around 1 hour 30 mins. They only touch on it, but they are definitely aware of the issue.
 
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I'm kind of surprised no one has contacted either of the larger knife publications about getting an interview with Williams. Of course, if he's buying ad space in their magazines, they might not be so motivated to actually pursue the truth.
 
Hopefully something will happen to bring this thief to justice. Hopefully this is done before he ends up screwing with the wrong person and then can no longer protect himself.
 
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