looking at a design and RE-making it with your own character
i worked for the company that developed CV joints. they patented it in such a way, that all CV joint makers pay them a licensing fee.Yes, but patents have expiration dates. 17 years of having a design all to yourself is more than fair. What if one car manufacturer had exclusive rights to build vehicles with an automatic transmission forever? Or only one company was allowed to produce sliding windows for houses from now till kingdom come? As a little man getting by in my garage, I'm not going to be drug through the courts by a world renowned knife manufacturer who somehow managed to get a judge to sign off on a patent extension that bypassed federal laws.
The cv joint was invented by an engineer at the ford motor corp in 1926. There have been many different iterations since then that have been patented. One of the last ones was invented in 1999, which means that patent expired in 2016. If manufacturers wanted to use that particular design they would have had to pay royalties until that date.i worked for the company that developed CV joints. they patented it in such a way, that all CV joint makers pay them a licensing fee.
interesting that the company sold ford 75% of the axle assemblies they use. the company continues to make changes in design which keeps it ahead of any other makersThe cv joint was invented by an engineer at the ford motor corp in 1926. There have been many different iterations since then that have been patented. One of the last ones was invented in 1999, which means that patent expired in 2016. If manufacturers wanted to use that particular design they would have had to pay royalties until that date.
Do you think the inventor of the liner lock gets a royalty check every time a company makes one?
I have a question to add to this. when I first started out I bought a bunch of those half finished knives you just put handles on and sell. My plan was to use them to practices my handle and to sell them cheaper than I would something I handle made but to clearly mark that I did know make these knives just handled them. Is that okay?
You can do what ever you want. There is no law, rule or otherwise that says you can't put handles on blade blanks and sell them as full custom. I think it's shady to represent them as full custom knives. You will also get a lot of push back from knife makers that know the difference plus your reputation will be damaged - a lot.
Putting handles on blade blanks and representing them as pre-finished blade blanks isn't misleading at all and many do that. I see them at knife shows all the time. I know several people making a living doing that. In fact much of "the public" mostly thinks this is how it is done. All blade blanks are not junk, many are but not all. I can show you some damascus ones made in the USA that are as good as any.