doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Plagiarism

....In shotguns.

One of the most fascinating things about shotguns is learning about the mechanical advancements, patents and successes.

Intellectual light weight Kamala busted for plagiarizing whole sections of her book raises a fair issue. In her case, lifting word for word directly from Wikipedia without attribution.


London had patents and IP that was enforced.

London Guns attribute - Scott Spindle, Purdey underbolt, South gate ejectors, A&d. Individual craftsmen signed their names.
In modern times Kolar has a Beretta lock up, K80 split barrels and Perazzi draws and wedges dt trigger. Benelli action, now copied in Turkey

When is it plagiarism and when is it innovation in shotguns?

Innovation
Perazzi copied Boss but the DT was a game changer.
Rem 32, now k80 was inspired from Damon Petrik but with a lot of other new features.

Shameless Copies
Kemen, Yildiz, Miroku, Ata, Zoli, Salvinelli, Versamax

I used to manage intellectual property for a large operating company. It is much more of a slippery slope than most people realize. A patent is issued when the examiner can find no "prior art" has been granted. Included in the patent are many things; the invention as stated, it's useful applications, it's unique properties etc. Once issued, the company must protect it. The patent is not bulletproof. It's legality is based on the assumption that the prior art does not exist, based on the examiner's research. An infringement must be challenged in court by the owner. Once a defense starts, any number of things can invalidate part or all of a patent. The application may be different or simply not included in the patent, such as different materials used, different operating conditions etc. It could be used in a country where the patentee has not filed for coverage. The one that scares the bejesus out of a patent owner is that they file a complaint and suit and then company X (and maybe Y and Z) come forth with documentation that they have practiced "the art" in the past and/or knew of the technology and simply held it internally as a Trade Secret or did not pursue it in order to prevent dissemination of the knowledge. All these result in a big KABOOM of the patent and everyone can wade in. My guess is that in most of the situations you mention, the original patent owners were likely concerned by the fact that they also stood on the shoulders of others, and if they raised a stink, someone may come against them.

Fascinating read. Thank you guys! Gil

Most mechanical designs are derivative, but using the term plagiarism would only seem to be appropriate when a gunmaker takes someone else's design and claims it as their own. Once the patent expires, gunmakers are free to incorporate various designs as they see fit without need of royalty payments or even attribution. Do we need to reference R. Tradwell for his invention of the coil spring (c. 1763) each time one is used?

Just curious, you mentioned Zoli on your list of shameless copies. Zoli openly attributes its locking bolt to Boss, but is there another gun that it supposedly copies? I get ATA (Beretta 680 action) and the Yildiz Pro (whose parts interchange with Perazzi).

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Chas. Caleb Colton

Ithaca waited for several years for after the main patent to expire on the Remington M17 to expire before building the Model 37. The bulk of the design by John Moses Browning was first made in 1917 and has been in continuous production for over 100 years. Smaller improvements in Browning's design prevented Ithaca from starting production until all patents expired. Gil

Peterson also held patents on the Remington model 17. I always found it interesting that the 17 and the 37 are nearly identical in design with absolutely no parts interchange.

Best,
Ted