Ok, Now I need some blanks!!!!!!!!!!! Wonderful!!!!!!!
Nice looking pen, good to see an original design.
[SIZE=-10]get run into the ground[/SIZE]
It looks nice. I think you should have added more parts but otherwise looks good. I'm glad to see people are making these and successfully making them look good.
Nice looking pen, good to see an original design.
[SIZE=-10]get run into the ground[/SIZE]
Andy, I'm sorry, but I had a conversation with Barry Gross and Curtis about this, it's nice, but I think some people are going to regret doing these, Barry seems pretty determined to protect his concept, plus he's laying out several thousand dollars a month for advertising, I doubt if he'll be hitting any one for making one or two, but someone who's making or says he's making 20 or so of them is looking like a nice target. I have enough metal smithing equipment and tools that it would be quite easy for me, in fact, I know of a much better way of securing the parts to the tube after bending them to shape, but I'm going to sit this craze out, Mostly because Barry Gross seems like a decent guy, and I've had Jewelry designs knocked off, at least the guys that stole my designs were kind enough to buy several of them at full retail then mold and cast them, I do wish they'd had the decency to at least remove my Hallmark and copyright from the buckles. mostly because the work they were doing was pathetic, Lousy casting , horrid finishing and there was still fire scale on the larger surfaces of the buckles and tips.
unfortunatly all I could afford was to have my attorney issue a cease and desist order, , the dirtbags that were knocking me off didn't have enough assets to sue for, and their equipment was junk or I might have gone after them, The cease and desist order had the desired effect though. And conversely I've been on the other side of the coin I used to make the most beautiful Mickey and Minny Mouse 14 kt gold charms, until a nice guy came in and bought a pair of them 4 days later I got a very nice letter from a law firm representing Walt Disney, demanding I cease and desist making marketing and distributing these charms as well as destroy my master molds and master of the charms, which I did, Walt had the power, I gave the cut up molds to the lawyer, and gave him a pair of charms, with a sprue on them, (I fudged on the original masters my wife still has them). Sorry, I'm not trying to hijack your thread, but after the amount of discussion, and the fact that the actual reason Mr. Tate has yet to disclose for the original pictures of his being pulled, and the fact he was bragging about selling one of the pens, which Barry was kind enough to help him with, "on the grounds that he would only make two, one for his father and one for himself, and not display or offer up for sale" , This pen, although it is very pretty, just leaves a bad taste in my mouth, I had thought about making one for my wife, but not any more, Right is Right, and Honor comes at a high price, I hope Gary finds this out soon.
5 O'Clock somewhere!
This pen, although it is very pretty, just leaves a bad taste in my mouth,
This pen, although it is very pretty, just leaves a bad taste in my mouth,
Ken ... stop putting pens in your mouth ... you dont know where they have been!
Thanks Dawn. I read the forum daily. I've been having record days with the rings, so the pens have taken a back seat.
It's funny, the moment I saw it, the Caran d'Ache pen with the watch parts was my favorite pen of all time. Now it seems everyone is copying them. Not a bad thing if they don't have a problem with it. Their pen has very distinctive features that make it their own.
It's funny, the moment I saw it, the Caran d'Ache pen with the watch parts was my favorite pen of all time.
Thanks John. Yes, I have about 18 patents and lots of others pending. It's is a very tough thing to get and once you do, it's a tough thing to protect.
It does depend heavily on what Barry claims as to whether a patent covers it. If it's the technique, he has a better shot than if it's the concept of a pen with gears in it. He would be fighting with Caran d'Ache as to the concept date, and being a large corporation with a huge investment in it, they've probably been working on that pen for a very long time and would fight any patent vigorously. Even though I've seen people say a patent has been applied for, I didn't see an application for Barry with the patent office. That doesn't mean that one hasn't been filed though; they are fairly slow to update stuff. The application will have to show exactly how the process is done so that someone skilled in the art could make one. Unfortunately, a provisional patent will have no power to prevent anyone from doing anything; only when and if the real patent issues in a few years will that give him the right to stop others. Even then, it will be up to him to sue others in order to get them to stop; the patent office has no jurisdiction in disputes. If the concept is simply gears in a pen body, my opinon is that the patent would be considered obvious or extremely weak and could be challenged. That's why I didn't seek a patent for the puzzle pen. It's a pretty simple concept. With hindsight, I should have probably done something once others claimed to come up with it. I do wish the others that stole it from me included me in the royalties of the products produced. I think a buck or so per pen produced would be fair enough to all parties involved. I think that should be Barry's stratagy, using licensing agreements. Casting gears in resin isn't rocket science, but if he has come up with a method or technique that improves on what's been done before he has a much better case. Once the cat's out of the bag, it's very hard to reign it in.
www.bgartforms.com said:Vintage mechanical watches are carefully dis-assembled and the parts are examined to see if they will fit onto the appropriate sized painted pen tubes. Once the watch parts are inspected, they are carefully positioned onto the tubes to assure that the maximum number of parts are placed into each piece. As the watch pieces are arranged, they are glued onto the pen tubes one piece at a time. Once all the pieces are glued onto the pen tubes, the assemblies are coated over a three day period with a non-yellowing acrylic assuring maximum protection for years to come for your Watch Pieces Pen. Once the acrylic is dry it is then turned on a lathe and each piece is hand polished to 12,000 grit and buffed to a high gloss shine.
It's a pen, not a life saving medical advancement...... sheeze.......
If someone was trying to protect their copyright, they should put wording on their website where they are selling said copyrighted items that they are copywrited.
I went to Barry's website and looked at one of his watch pieces fountain pen. Nowhere did I see that the design is copyrighted, the images posted did not bear any type of copyright mark, and the process was described.
www.bgartforms.com said:Vintage mechanical watches are carefully dis-assembled and the parts are examined to see if they will fit onto the appropriate sized painted pen tubes. Once the watch parts are inspected, they are carefully positioned onto the tubes to assure that the maximum number of parts are placed into each piece. As the watch pieces are arranged, they are glued onto the pen tubes one piece at a time. Once all the pieces are glued onto the pen tubes, the assemblies are coated over a three day period with a non-yellowing acrylic assuring maximum protection for years to come for your Watch Pieces Pen. Once the acrylic is dry it is then turned on a lathe and each piece is hand polished to 12,000 grit and buffed to a high gloss shine.
http://www.bgartforms.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=38_36&product_id=195
Any penmaker who goes to his site, looks at the pen, sees the description could, with a little effort, duplicate what he has done with the information he has listed. Nothing is visible that the design is copyrighted.
I give crdit to Barry for what he has developed and created. But if he wants to protect his copyrighted designs, he needs to make it known that his designs are copyrighted on his website where he is selling them.
Update: Only place that a copyright is mentioned is from a sidebar link on the "about us" page.
The technique he is useing is different than what most of us use. We are casting with a poly resin and he is coating with a non yellowing epoxy.
Just wondering out loud if that matters....
The technique he is useing is different than what most of us use. We are casting with a poly resin and he is coating with a non yellowing epoxy.
Just wondering out loud if that matters....
Kind of like building a fishing rod or so he says
.