mikecc
05-04-2005, 06:31 PM
Had to post this on the main page becauce I did not want it to be missed by any one.
Sent to me from Joe at American Tackle.
Fuji looses Trademark suit
Nashville, TN – U. S. District Court Judge William J. Haynes, JR dismissed with prejudice trademark claims Fuji Kogyo Company of Japan had filed against Amtak Ltd. of Harwich, MA concerning the N, SV, LV and LR style ceramic rod guides. The Judge also cancelled all trademarks concerning these line guides sighting the leg and frame configurations for Fuji’s trademarks as functional therefore voiding any claim to a trademark.
This proves what Amtak claimed all along that this was an attempt by Fuji to extend their expired patents to squash legitimate competition here and abroad. Justice prevailed and the market will benefit. We couldn’t be happier.
We had a situation here two and a half years ago where our customers were sent very intimidating letters implying the threat of a law suit if they used allegedly infringing or counterfeit guides. This situation progressed to the point where customers would not use any guide with any perceived chance of infringement. This hurt our business and our customer’s freedom of choice. Knowing that we and our customers can now conduct business in an atmosphere unencumbered by the threat of a law suit will come as a great relief to us all. We can now go back to these customers that felt threatened and get back to doing business and put this whole long and expensive episode behind us. We hope this will put an end to this type of tactic which inhibits competition and hinders free trade
Sent to me from Joe at American Tackle.
Fuji looses Trademark suit
Nashville, TN – U. S. District Court Judge William J. Haynes, JR dismissed with prejudice trademark claims Fuji Kogyo Company of Japan had filed against Amtak Ltd. of Harwich, MA concerning the N, SV, LV and LR style ceramic rod guides. The Judge also cancelled all trademarks concerning these line guides sighting the leg and frame configurations for Fuji’s trademarks as functional therefore voiding any claim to a trademark.
This proves what Amtak claimed all along that this was an attempt by Fuji to extend their expired patents to squash legitimate competition here and abroad. Justice prevailed and the market will benefit. We couldn’t be happier.
We had a situation here two and a half years ago where our customers were sent very intimidating letters implying the threat of a law suit if they used allegedly infringing or counterfeit guides. This situation progressed to the point where customers would not use any guide with any perceived chance of infringement. This hurt our business and our customer’s freedom of choice. Knowing that we and our customers can now conduct business in an atmosphere unencumbered by the threat of a law suit will come as a great relief to us all. We can now go back to these customers that felt threatened and get back to doing business and put this whole long and expensive episode behind us. We hope this will put an end to this type of tactic which inhibits competition and hinders free trade