Sierra Kit History?

[egnald]

Fellow penturners,

In the past few years there have been many discussions and inquiries on IAP as to all of the "Sierra Style" pen kits that are available. I have very little history related to the original Sierra(R) pen kit. All I have found is that it was designed and introduced by the Berea Hardwoods Co. sometime in the late 1990's or early 2000's. Since then the Sierra style has become one of the most popular pen kits worldwide. Obviously many companies have copied the Sierra style and have added their unique twist to the design.

Can anyone provide more details on the origins of the Sierra kit like the year when it first appeared, who were the designers, was anyone other than Berea was involved in the design, what inspired the design, etc.

Best Regards,
Dave

 

[ed4copies]

One place to start would be the Patent office. Joe from Berea has several patents and I am pretty certain the Sierra name was "copyrighted" or trademarked. I believe this was done after the fact, however the paperwork might give you some history.

 

[jttheclockman]

If I am not mistaken this was done here before or maybe it was the cigar pen kit. I will dig around a little to see if I can find that.

I did not even know there is a Sierra rollerball and or fountain pen kit by Berea.

https://www.bereahardwoods.com/pen-kit/sets/elegant-beauty-sierr.html

From their web site.

The Berea Hardwoods Co, designed and introduced the Sierra® family of pen kits almost 15 years ago. Since then the Sierra® has become one of the most popular pen kits worldwide!

Many people have tried to copy the Sierra® and even use the Sierra® name, violating our trademark. None of these copies come up to the quality level of the genuine Sierra® and are often highly defective.We have even found some companies in the USA and Endland are using the name Sierra® when they are selling cheap Chinese copies.

It is possible that some information was contained in threads that discussed the Sierra pen kits because that kit probably has been discussed more than any other kit here due to the fact there are so many versions out there and probably more to come. as far as rights go I do not know how well Ernie protected the name. I even looked up Ernie as a member here and he was, and you can read his threads if you like. But one thing back then there was this problem with advertising so much because when various vendors would answer threads there was huge ads attached to their signature lines and that had to be restricted by Jeff over the years because those wars were intense. Oh the good old days. Anyway here is Ernies threads if you care to read. I did not see any more info if there is actually any out there.

https://www.penturners.org/search/108044/?q=*&c[users]=BearToothWoods&o=date

 

[egnald]

So far I have only found that Berea Hardwoods Co., Inc. is the owner of the registered trademark "Sierra" (#4343786) and that they filed on 22-Mar-2012 and it was registered on 28-may-2013, but the "First Use Anywhere Date" was identified as 05-Feb-2005. So, perhaps it first appeared in Berea advertising in 2005. I have also reached out to Berea to see if they can provide more details. - Dave

 

[its_virgil]

... as far as rights go I do not know how well Ernie protected the name.

I don't think the name Sierra is Ernie's to protect. Ernie owns Bear Tooth Woods, Jim H. owns Berea Hardwoods, the maker or the sierra. Or, what am I missing? Correct me if I need it.
Don

 

[jttheclockman]

So far I have only found that Berea Hardwoods Co., Inc. is the owner of the registered trademark "Sierra" (#4343786) and that they filed on 22-Mar-2012 and it was registered on 28-may-2013, but the "First Use Anywhere Date" was identified as 05-Feb-2005. So, perhaps it first appeared in Berea advertising in 2005. I have also reached out to Berea to see if they can provide more details. - Dave

I don't think the name Sierra is Ernie's to protect. Ernie owns Bear Tooth Woods, Jim H. owns Berea Hardwoods, the maker or the sierra. Or, what am I missing? Correct me if I need it.
Don

Probably right Don. I did not dive into this that deep. I always associated BTW with Ernie. But it is a Berea hardwoods kits. I am confused. Because Ernie talks about adding new platings to his kits in his threads back then. https://www.penturners.org/threads/hope-i-can-say-this-new-berea-kit.19616/#post-541355 I just can not see how one can protect the word Sierra or name Sierra. Common word.

 

[jrista]

I wonder if the two were collaborating on the pen design back then? There are variants of the "Sierra" kits but they have different names, like the Gatsby (PSI IIRC). I've also had some Aero kits (slimmer), and there are others. BUT...Ernie sells actual Sierra kits on BTW, as does Berea. Now I'm curious to find out more. Given the linked thread where Ernie was talking about adding platings, kinda seems like he may have had a hand in the design?

BTW and Berea seem to sell the same platings and styles. The Black Ti and Plat is one of the last few kits I know of that has those higher grade platings, too (I'm a big fan of nice platings!) Interestingly, there is also the "Elegant" Sierras, which I normally find on Exotic Blanks. Makes me really curious who had a hand in the design of all of these back in the day.

 

[ed4copies]

They were all designed and owned by Berea. Authorized resellers like BTW and ExoticBlanks can request different plating combinations, as long as we are willing to purchase the minimum quantity they require.

 

[leehljp]

I can't add very much specifically, but I did not order from Berea early on but somehow started with Ernie at Beartoothwoods sometime in 2006 or 7. My first post of a Sierra was in 2007 and it was a gunmetal and TiGold. Before that I do think the first Sierras were black & chrome and black & gold plated, which were before the TiGold ones. I could easily be wrong in my memories, but or if this triggers a thought in someone's memory or to a link, well then good.

 

[jttheclockman]

I guess this thread has gotten me to thinking, what does it all mean in the pen turning world. You see many times on vendors sites names of kits that have small TM next to it meaning trade marked and "R" I guess meaning trademark too but with different intent and gets into legal mumble jumble that means nothing to me. Then there are the time limits such as 10 years to hold a TM and or repay and all that. With this said you still see so many kits that are clones of kits that have these symbols next to them and there are many examples I won't go into. Then you go to all these vendors and they are selling basically the same kits that have been knocked off. Where is the loyalty amongst vendors? To sell these kits do they have to pay royalities or is it all for each other. Some clones use same names while some change names but looks similar in design. So what is it the designers are trademarking, names or designs? This kit making has continued to grow and seems there is no stopping as long as we keep buying. Just a weird field.