Ontario Knives RAT Cutlery in the Back
More Articles Related to BlogFor all you knife lovers out there and in particular those who use and like RAT knives. RAT Cutlery (Randalls Adventure Training) is being sued by the larger Ontario Knife company over the RAT name and triangular logo.
As Jeff Randall of RAT Cutlery states: “Ontario Knife’s CEO is basically telling me we don't have a right to our own name and wants us quit our business and not compete with Ontario anymore”
Rat Cutlery and Ontario Knife have been in a partnership for quite some time:
From Ontario Knife Company website: “In 2002, Ontario Knife Company entered into an exclusive collaboration with the professional survival training team Randall's Adventure & Training.”
Be that as it may, RAT has been using the RAT name and logo on knives for far longer than this ill-fated partnership with Ontario Knife. Since RAT knives are widely recognized for quality and workmanship it seems Ontario Knife is making a move to grab the RAT name out from under the very person who founded RAT knives!
This is obviously a case of a larger company attempting to steal the good name and brand of a smaller company through underhanded legal means.
According to papers filed with the Patent and Trademark Office, Ontario Knife claims ownership of RAT Cutlery's TAK-1 and RTAK names, which RAT's been using for much longer than their relationship with Ontario Knife.
If you have ever been through litigation you know that the side with the most money has a marked advantage (Equal justice under the law? Yeah, right.). However there is something you can do to hit these thieves with their big legal budget where it hurts: DO NOT BUY ONTARIO KNIVES or related products.
Ontario Knives may also have relationships with Queen Cutlery, Kitchen Cutlery, and Old Hickory brands, so boycott these also.
Franklin, MA
Don't jump to conclusions so quickly. We're hearing a VERY one-sided story here. I've seen this written up in a few different places, and always from the point of view of the RAT guys who are claiming all kinds of things.
I've not seen any response from Ontario Knives as yet. The RAT guys are continuing to try and portray this as the big corporate giant picking on the little guy. They talk about the "limitless resources" and "corporate lawyers". All of this is very deceptive, because Ontario Knives is not a corporate giant at all. They are a rather small facility tucked away in a small town in upstate New York.
As we've all seen with Camillus, these types of companies are in serious trouble financially. Competing with cheap blades out of China has them struggling to stay afloat. If a bunch of folks decide to boycott them, they'll go out of business in a flash. Whereas the RAT guys have provided us with a very deceptive view of Ontario, I'm starting to get skeptical about the rest of their claims.
The only clue I have as to what?s actually going on is that same quote from Ontario?s website: "In 2002, Ontario Knife Company entered into an exclusive collaboration with the professional survival training team Randall's Adventure & Training."
The key word here is "exclusive". When you enter into an exclusive agreement with a company to manufacture something for you, it means that they and they alone are allowed to produce that product. Manufacturing companies always want that kind of agreement in place because they're going to spend a ton of money tooling up before they can even begin making a product. It would seem that within 5 years RAT decided to try and jump ship. Perhaps understandably, Ontario Knives is trying to hold them to the agreement. With this knowledge, you can see that there's only one side that's broken the agreement. It's highly likely that all the noise and threats of boycotts coming from the folks at RAT are simply a tactic to get Ontario Knives to cave in.
What does all this mean? It is tough to say for sure, but my educated guess is that the RAT guys decided they could make more money if they outsourced these blades someplace else. My guess would be Asia, Mexico or wherever it is in South America that they conduct their jungle training. The simple fact is we don't know who is acting in bad faith here, except that we have one side making a ton of noise and wild claims. Those who cry loudest aren't always the most correct. Until I hear BOTH sides of this story, I'm not willing to boycott anyone.
Supporting boycotts and/or companies who outsource overseas will mean the end of the American blade industry.
M. Forti (M40) Webmaster, www.m40survival.com
Survival Topics: Thank you for your well thought out post, M40. Your point is taken and I also enjoy your site.
Anytown, USA
- The elclusive agreement with Ontario ended in April 2007.
- The new RAT Cutlery knives are made in the US.
- As posted on Bladeforums, Jeff Randall is not endorsing any sort of boycott. In fact, he suggested that the folks on the forum continue to buy from Ontario, and support this American company.
- As to the "excellent" Ontario knives. They have had some serious quality issues with the grinds on their RAT-3 knives, and based on what I have read are not quick in responding to the customers who received these knives.
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Va.USA
In my oppinion you need to let Jeff Randall and Ontario knives work out the patent and trademark issues theirselves but Ontario has a good product lineup and is a major supplier of blades for our men and women in the U.S. military. Your little boycott of Ontario kinves is pure B.S. Ontario knives make a excellent product at reasonable prices offering the survival community and the military a blade they can trust.
Survival Topics: Simply because a business contracts to the military [think Halliburton] does not automatically make that business honorable and deserving of respect. Please do not use the US armed forces as credentials justifying a dispicable act done by a private company; this is an error in logic and a diservice to the men and women serving their country.