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Patenting San mai

Discussion in 'The Off Topic Room' started by chefcomesback, Apr 27, 2016.

  1. scotchef38

    scotchef38 Founding Member

    Can i trademark "hamon" cheese sandwich
     
  2. chefcomesback

    chefcomesback Founding Member

    I am waiting for hon -yucky from them too
     
  3. Andre

    Andre Founding Member

    Doesn't san mai refer to anything that is three pieces, not just clad steel? This is bordering on patent trolling. If you want to know what real **************** look like, look up patent trolls. These people are the worst.
     
  4. chefcomesback

    chefcomesback Founding Member

    Exactly , and claim it as its your trademark ?? I may go with some my from now on lol
     
  5. apathetic

    apathetic Founding Member

    I think I will just patent the word gyuto... :D
     
  6. Lynn: "There is a lot of confusion between the process of forging or manufacturing three-layered-steel and the name San Mai® as used in America today. These are two very different things."

    so the BS-saga continues…
    :pop
     
  7. He must of done a sh*t job of promoting it because i hadn't heard the term until i got into j-knives and the forums.

    Also a minor point. He didn't pick a cool Japanese name for it, he chose the japanese term, quite a difference.

    Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
     
  8. As has been said above...their 'marketing quadrillions' seem to bee poorly directed. I didn't even know Cold Steel made San Mai.

    Completely ridiculous.
     
  9. chefcomesback

    chefcomesback Founding Member

    I will proudly say none of my San mai knives ( with my home made billets or takefu billets ) show any resemblances to the mall ninja cutlery. Also last time I have checked takefu special steels was found in 1954 and they were making San mai steels before anyone from the mentioned company could spell it .
     
  10. I haven't heard whether Chad Nichols has received a letter since he advertises his "San Mai" billets. Also, Shun stamps "San Mai" right on their blades. Haven't heard of Shun getting a letter either.
     
  11. Lucretia

    Lucretia Founding Member

    So I looked at what the US Patent & Trademark office has to say about this. They have a booklet on trademarks here: http://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/trademarks/basics/BasicFacts.pdf

    I found this section interesting:

    Generic words are the weakest types of “marks” (and cannot even qualify as “marks” in the legal
    sense) and are never registrable or enforceable against third parties. Because generic words are
    the common, everyday name for goods and services and everyone has the right to use such terms
    to refer to their goods and services, they are not protectable. Be aware that if you adopt a generic
    term to identify your goods or services, you will not be able to prevent others from using it to
    identify potentially competing products or services. In addition, even a fanciful mark that is very
    strong can, over time, become generic if the owner either starts using the mark in a non-trademark
    manner (see ESCALATOR and ASPIRIN examples, below) or fails to police use of its mark properly
    and take appropriate action. Without proper policing over time, the original owner of a mark could
    lose any trademark rights it has in the mark.

    Examples of generic marks:
    Applied-for trademarks that would be considered generic at the time of filing because they
    are the name of the good or product offered by the service:
    BICYCLE for “bicycles” or “retail bicycle stores”
    MILK for “a dairy-based beverage”

    Trademarks that eventually became generic because of long-term widespread, non-
    trademark use:
    ESCALATOR for “moving staircases,” ASPIRIN for “pain relief medication”


    I'm no lawyer, but it seems like San Mai would fall under the generic word criterion. They might be able to enforce their San Mai logo with a particular font and 3 bars, but trying to say the trademark includes any use of San Mai seems unenforceable to me.
     
  12. And it seems that even if the court wasn't going to rule the generic nature (as it's japanese) they would have lost the trademark since they haven't defended it for 30 years

    Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
     
  13. HHH Knives

    HHH Knives Founding Member



    Pretty much sums it up.
     
  14. MattS

    MattS Founding Member

    ROFL!
     
  15. XooMG

    XooMG Founding Member

    Wonder how many heads that joke will go over.
     
  16. Jeffery Hunter

    Jeffery Hunter Founding Member

    That is fantastic!

    Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk
     
  17. HHH Knives

    HHH Knives Founding Member

    I imagine there will be T shirts , stickers. and general use of this new name at the Blade show next month..

    Koku-Suka.
     

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