Selling counterfeit knives is dishonest. Passing them off as real harms both customers and the reputation of the company that is having its products pirated.
As a vendor we some times take knives in trade towards other knives, usually those knives come from collectors who have never carried, used or sharpened them. The addition of clones, which are sometimes difficult to detect, makes the trading part of knife collecting harder for those of us who love knives and enjoy swapping them.
One of the major reasons we choose to carry the knives we sell are the corporate policies of the manufacturers. The treat their workers well. When a major retailer sells counterfeits they are cheating companies that treat their employers as family and are giving the money instead to criminals who have counterfeit good produced by slave labor or by workers who work in sweatshop conditions in China and other lesser industrialized nations.
Please note that Spyderco produces Byrd Knives as well as the Value Line, which includes the Tenacious, Persistence, Ambitious and Resiliance in China under their supervision and quality control. These are real Spyderco Knives and are not counterfeits.
From Sea Coast Online: http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/20170105/spyderco-knife-maker-sues-kittery-trading-post
KITTERY, Maine – Colorado knife maker Spyderco has filed a seven-count lawsuit against the Kittery Trading Post alleging the Route 1 retailer sold counterfeit Spyderco knives, of inferior quality, to “generate an obscene” profit.
The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court of Colorado and alleges the Kittery Trading Post likely bought the counterfeit knockoffs of Spyderco Military and Para-Military brand folding knives from a Chinese distributor for $10 each.
The Spyderco Military knife has a suggested manufacturer’s retail price of $259.95 to $279.95 and the Para-Military retail price is suggested at $259.95, according to the lawsuit.
Kevin Adams, president of Kittery Trading Post, released a statement Thursday evening denying the allegations in the suit.
“Kittery Trading Post is a third generation family run outdoor business that has been in continuous operation at the same Maine location for 79 years now. We take great pride in providing quality products at reasonable prices, and we are grateful for our thousands of loyal customers and over two thousand vendors who have trusted us with their business over the past eight decades. As our customers and vendors know, we are a real Trading Post and include pre-owned/used goods in our inventory, including used knives,” Adams said in the statement. “Recently an allegation was made accusing us of misleading the public by importing and selling large quantities of Chinese knives that resemble a known maker. Not only is this false, but for anyone that knows us at Kittery Trading Post, the suggestion is outrageous. For nearly 80 years we have worked to build our reputation for integrity and honesty by maintaining excellent relationships with our vendors and providing outstanding service and value to our customers. This false allegation is regrettable, and we will strongly defend ourselves against it.”
As evidence of its claims, Spyderco submitted photos of the knives, allegedly purchased at the Kittery Trading Post on Oct. 15, for $75 and $80 each. The knives both bear the Spyderco name, the “bug mark” logo and the knife maker’s “round hole mark” cut from the blades, according to the lawsuit and submitted photos. A receipt for the sales of the knives, which are described as “identical” to Spyderco’s, as well as price tags on both, described the knives as “clone,” according to the suit.
By marking the knives as “clone,” Kittery Trading Post “was thus aware of exactly what it was doing when it chose to offer for sale through its store the counterfeit knives,” the suit alleges.
The lawsuit was filed in December and on Wednesday, no Spyderco knives labeled as clones were displayed as for sale.
Spyderco claims the knockoff knives also bore its signature stamp noting they were made in “Golden, CO, USA, Earth.” Most of the Spyderco Military and Para-Military knives have blades made with a specific steel with “qualities prized by military, first responders and others who find themselves in situations that require constant critical use of cutting tools,” the suit alleges. The Spyderco knives are labeled that the blades are made of “CPM S30V” steel, which was also branded on the counterfeits purchased at the Kittery Trading Post, but an independent metallurgist confirmed they were not authentic, the suit claims.
Continue reading at: http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/20170105/spyderco-knife-maker-sues-kittery-trading-post
ORP Trading Post 