Counterfeit and 'Knock-off' Tools

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Cheshirechappie

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There has recently been some comment in various parts of the woodworking interweb about the counterfeiting of tool designs - the deliberate copying and selling of someone else's design, usually made to a much lower standard and sold for much less. A thoroughly reprehensible practice, and possibly outright illegal (though enforcement may be difficult or in some cases impossible). The original post on this subject was by Kevin Glen-Drake, pointing out that an overseas manufacturer was making and selling poor copies of his design of hammer, and even using a photograph of a genuine Glen-Drake hammer on the box in which it was packed; the point was taken up by Chris Schwarz on the Lost Art Press blog, and discussion then developed in other parts of the web.

A comment on one of the American forums by Derek Cohen accuses some in the UK in particular of encouraging this practice, or at the very least turning something of a blind eye. So as not to paraphrase Derek's words and thus possibly twist them, here's his post;


"Piracy of designs has been rife for a long, long time. More obvious examples are power tools, where design patents expire and versions of a successful (for example) tablesaw are manufactured by various factories and badged under their own name. We become more aware of this area in handtools as a result of threads such as this one. I read recommendations for handtools on many forums, but is seems to me that the one ones more likely to suggest a knock off design are either the UK forums or forums that cater to beginner woodworkers. In both cases the interest lies in buying as cheaply as possible. The argument/justification is usually that the original tool is too expensive.

Where lines of design ownership become blurred - and a "loop hole" for morality (or should that be immorality) creeps in - lies with those tools that have been around for many years, and the design changes are not always obvious (but enough to say that the design is "different"). Sometimes it is Trade Dress that is the issue. Examples being the Bailey handplane (LN vs early WoodRiver), ongoing knock offs of LN and LV spokeshaves, and ongoing knock offs of the Tite-Mark and LV wheel gauges. I have also seen the Chinese-version of the Tite-Mark hammers on sale at Woodshows and one local woodstore in Perth. I must add that this is not about Chinese factories, but about piracy of design. I know of sellers of look-a-like Blue Spruce marking knives in the UK, and the makers and buyers there do not see any issue in copying the design or buying the (cheaper) product.

The question is what can we do about this? The original makers could take legal action to protect themselves, but this is unlikely as most involved are small businesses that cannot afford the legal expenses. There are probably ways of taking out patents and enforcing them, but this is way outside my area of knowledge. What we can do is talk about this on the forums, to our mates, in discussions - just raise awareness. None of these people will thank you, however.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Last edited by Derek Cohen; Yesterday at 10:37 PM."

There are a number of things here on which I'm in no position to comment (knock-offs of LN and LV spokeshaves, for example), because I just haven't looked at the spokeshave market (outside UK Ebay) for many years. I'm also a little puzzled about the UK knock-offs of Blue Spruce marking knives (for much the same reason).

However, I'm also somewhat puzzled by the Bailey plane reference; as far as I'm aware, the Bailey (and Bed Rock) design has been out of patent for the best part of a century - they were 'common knowledge' when Record started making them in the 1930s. I'm not aware of anybody making poor direct copies of premium planes and passing them off under the LN, LV or Clifton trade names, though there are plenty of manufacturers making Bailey and Bed Rock planes, to varying levels of quality and price, under their own trade names. As far as I'm aware, that's perfectly legitimate.

Perhaps, on behalf of the UK woodworking community, I might ask Derek to clarify and expand his remarks a little?
 
Yes many things are out of copyright or patent so it's a free market.
In any case there aren't any seriously original ideas or designs in the products Derek lists - they are more exercises in style and marketing ( see huge debate about the colour of Clifton planes :roll: :lol: ) . As long as they aren't being fobbed off under false brand names there would seem to be no real issue with the competition.

....the deliberate copying and selling of someone else's design, usually made to a much lower standard and sold for much less...
Certainly happens. The converse happens too - copying to a higher standard and price (LV, LN etc), what's the difference?
 
If the issue is making copies per se, (or products that are 90%++ copies) it really shouldn't matter whether patents are long expired or not. That they were once patent-able, and indeed patented, means somebody else thought of it and you did not. When the bulk of the work has already been done, one can't come along and claim something new and miraculous after a very large percentage of a design has simply been co-opted.

Tweaking an already extraordinarily effective mousetrap isn't a cause for self-congratulation.

That said, still love my Records!

The current crop of copyists is no worse than last year's copyists, last decade's copyists, or even last century's copyists. That one might be getting into the hip-pocket of your own, favourite copyist is no cause for a moral crusade.

By the way, Leonard Bailey died in 1905 not all that long ago in the grand scheme of things.
 
Just had a quick look at the Glen Drake site, nothing unique or earth shattering.

Using his name on a fake is obviously wrong and we should support him in stamping it out if we can.

Most tools available these days are copies of things and the usual guff is its ok for us to make a copy of classic but we have researched, improved yada yada yada and anyone else copying a classic doesn't have our ethics and they should not be supported yawnnn.
 
Had to look up Kevin Glen-Drake hammers
Very nice too but there's nothing innovative or particularly original about any of them - just exercises in style.
As long as you don't use his name (counterfeiting) copying seems perfectly OK to me. But why copy - you could just as easily style your own, with a few little different twists and flourishes?
You could style your own brand name - what about "Hammers by Malcolm Clough-Duck"? Or would that be too close?

cheers
M Clough-Duck
 
Lie-Nielsen Boggs spokeshave:

1-sp-boggs-c.jpg



Chinese copy:

1372064540spokeshave%20brass.jpg



Lee Valley spokeshave

05p3201s1.jpg


Chinese copy:

150740.jpg



Wood-is-Good mallet (USA):

51IfcUlxs9L._SL1280_.jpg


Chinese copy:

w106.jpg


Just a few ...

This topic has aired here many, many times. There are some that care and some that don't.

Regards from Perth

Derek
 
They are similar but nevertheless distinctly different. Certainly not replicas.
 
Derek - where are the Chinese copies you show in the photographs above sold or promoted in the UK?

why are you taking a side-swipe at UK woodworkers in particular? Do you think we condone or actively encourage the examples you give photographs of? That's not a generalisation I recognise, and on behalf of my fellow woodworkers in the UK, I'd like to give you the opportunity to defend your accusation.
 
Cheshirechappie":3iweiaq4 said:
Derek - where are the Chinese copies you show in the photographs above sold or promoted in the UK?

why are you taking a side-swipe at UK woodworkers in particular? Do you think we condone or actively encourage the examples you give photographs of? That's not a generalisation I recognise, and on behalf of my fellow woodworkers in the UK, I'd like to give you the opportunity to defend your accusation.

No, those pics are not from UK shops. I was simply illustrating some of the copies. Some pics come from just Googling, but go to Woodcraft (USA) or McJing (Australia) for other examples. I have not gone looking at UK shops - not really interested, but I have seen a few marking gauges that are pretty similar to LN and LV wheel gauges, plus a number of cheap-looking copies of the LN block plane, all on this forum.

Woodcraft: http://www.woodcraft.com

McJing: https://mcjing.com.au

I am not taking a swipe at UK woodworkers in particular, but noting that of the forums I visit, generally the members of the UK forums appear less concerned about the pedigree of a tool than the price. You are not alone. This is also apparent on the Australian forum, and on several US forums.

Keep in mind that I responded to a conversation on a US forum. I did not start it. This is a reoccurring topic. Some take notice and others go into denial.

Regards from Perth

Derek
 
Derek - quoting from your words in my original post,

"I read recommendations for handtools on many forums, but is seems to me that the one ones more likely to suggest a knock off design are either the UK forums or forums that cater to beginner woodworkers."

That seems a fairly direct accusation at UK woodworkers in particular.

A bit of googling suggests that your photographs show firstly a Quangsheng spokeshave (available in the UK, though it's hardly a cheap knock-off at about £50 - for that, it's probably a pretty decent tool); however, I have been unable to find any UK supplier of WoodRiver spokeshaves, or of the copy mallet (though Classic Hand Tools do stock the USA-made original).

Derek - it's bad enough having our cricket team regularly stuffed out of sight by Aussies without being unfairly accused by them of buying tools that aren't even available here! Give us a break, will you - and on behalf of UK woodworkers in general, a bit of a sorry for the slur would be appreciated!

(Edited to add the price of a Quangsheng spokeshave.)
 
Look up seiko pepsi and rolex pepsi, the watches look nearly identical, yet the seiko would be called an "homage" to the Rolex watch and is loved by watch enthusiast.

As long as the design copyright has run out and they are putting their name to it, I can;t see a problem.
 
There's a saying that plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery, however.....

If you can't patent a design, and very few new ideas things in woodworking tools are innovative enough to be patentable these days, the only methods of protection you have are copyright and trade mark registration. To enforce copyright you need to join an organisation such as ACID who can give you the necessary muscle to fight blatant copying of your product, but only if your product has one or more unique design features. It doesn't work if you are copying an existing design yourself. Savvy manufacturers also come up with a trademark which can be legally protected - you'll see lots of them stamped on old chisels and plane irons - whilst trying to educate their (potential) customer base as to why their product is better (copying in tool making is hardly new). I have to ask whether Glenn Drake Tools has done either of these things.

To quote John Ruskin (allegedly), "There is hardly anything in the world that someone cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price alone are that person's lawful prey. It's unwise to pay too much, but it's worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money – that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot – it can't be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better."
 
Cheshirechappie":19h38n72 said:
Derek - where are the Chinese copies you show in the photographs above sold or promoted in the UK?

why are you taking a side-swipe at UK woodworkers in particular? Do you think we condone or actively encourage the examples you give photographs of? That's not a generalisation I recognise, and on behalf of my fellow woodworkers in the UK, I'd like to give you the opportunity to defend your accusation.

No, those pics are not from UK shops. I was simply illustrating some of the copies. Some pics come from just Googling, but go to Woodcraft (USA) or McJing (Australia) for other examples. I have not gone looking at UK shops - not really interested, but I have seen a few marking gauges that are pretty similar to LN and LV wheel gauges, plus a number of cheap-looking copies of the LN block plane, all on this forum.

Woodcraft: http://www.woodcraft.com

McJing: https://mcjing.com.au

I am not taking a swipe at UK woodworkers in particular, but noting that of the forums I visit, generally the members of the UK forums appear less concerned about the pedigree of a tool than the price. You are not alone. This is also apparent on the Australian forum, and on several US forums.

Keep in mind that I responded to a conversation on a US forum. I did not start it. This is a reoccurring topic. Some take notice and others go into denial.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Hi Derek. So now you want to implicate the Australian Forum into your argument as well. Your starting to dig a very deep hole for yourself.

regards Stewie;
 
The problem with the Ruskin post, these days, is that the Chinese "copies" are generally apparently quite good - at least the ones carried by reputable dealers like Woodcraft in the US and Workshop Heaven in the UK. This is probably what sticks in the craw the most. They're all copies, some are just double the price of others. Except for an additional fifteen to twenty minutes of buffing, polishing, and light filing there isn't a dime's worth of difference in the quality of a lot of these tools.

Any reasonably well-industrialized nation has firms quite capable of producing superb hand planes at a reasonable cost to the consumer.
 
Derek - it's bad enough having our cricket team regularly stuffed out of sight by Aussies without being unfairly accused by them of buying tools that aren't even available here! Give us a break, will you - and on behalf of UK woodworkers in general, a bit of a sorry for the slur would be appreciated!

Sorry - I didn't mean to start another body line war :) (but you guys did initiate that one to stop Bradman).

The important issue here is that we all sit up and take the situation seriously enough to avoid the pirates, even if the price is tempting. I do not mind anyone copying my designs as long as they make them for their own use. How would you feel if someone used one of your designs and profited from it, just because you designed it 15 years ago?

If you want to keep the small toolmakers in business, support them ... not those that take their designs and sell them more cheaply.

Regards from Perth

Derek
 
The problem with your argument is that you insist these are 'their' designs when they have kept intact 90% of somebody else's design. You don't seem to be able to get past this glaringly obvious fact.

The 'small toolmaker' had better consider offering something not obviously a copy if they intend to maintain profits where one presumes they have been up until now.

It is a very precarious business model that offers a product formerly produced at an industrial level (Stanley, Record, et al.) on a boutique basis. Ask any well-known professional furnituremaker and while you're at it ask him (or her) what their spouse does for a living, who provides insurances, etc.
 
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