Tim Mitchell

Thanks Marc1, I agree totally. The number of similar designs now are very many in different businesses. I only just became aware of that over the last few days after I asked this question here. When I came up with this design back 17 years ago I did an extensive search and found no similar designs. The only designs were Alpha next to Omega which didn't look visually similar at all. I will have to consider what my options are for the future as it is clear that I can't defend my sole use of the design based on first use alone and no trademark. I don't want to get into the mess of legal action as it is distasteful, against the spirit of the community, and would almost certainly fail. That is why I asked the question here as I was unsure how this sort of thing should be dealt with in the community. I appreciate the feedback and advice and I have some things to think about as I move forward.

Thanks Ausfire, it is always nice when things are solved amicably.. he was also starting to use his logo in promotional material with the message Alpha Omega Knives which is what my knife brand is called. The combination were getting a little too close to not cause some confusion in the reasonable person test. Stay safe and cool!

I am in Australia where the laws are basically the same as in the US and Canada and I first used the mark in the US. I definitely have the first use of the symbol hands down... 17 years kind of takes care of that. The responsibility is usually on the one who has recently adopted it to change their mark when it comes to trademark law... I know the laws I was just wondering about what was the standard practice in the community if this sort of thing comes up. I ended up contacting the guy nicely and after a bit of chatting he decided to change his mark after selling his current inventory. I am surprised at the number of similar (and exact) symbols which are out there in other businesses. When I started to use it I was the only one who had anything even close to this logo. It may cause me problems in the future, and that is something that I will have to give some thought to. For now the problem seems to be solved with little drama which is good.. we will see what the future brings... Thanks for all your advice.

Can anyone give some advice concerning a touchmark that is very very close to your touch mark. I have just come across a touch mark that is so close to mine that it seems like a modified version of my logo. Any advice on how this should be treated is welcome. Should I leave it alone or should I ask him to change his touch mark? Mine is the one on the Ricasso.

You can reduce the ore directly into a steel ingot and some have done it that way. The Georgian process could be used to process ore as well as bloomery iron, you can read about it here Georgian Method There is a summary of the method on Bladesmithsforum.com. The main issue with the direct reduction method is that it makes poorer quality steel. The bloomery processing of ore removes lots of unwanted things and leaves a cleaner product. The bloomery iron still has some phosphorous and possibly sulfur as well as silica and other impurities in it which were historically reduced through adding ingredients in the crucible processes. The Charcoal does clean up the charge significantly but to get a really high quality crucible steel you need to either add a bunch of stuff to the crucible such as manganese, calcium, tannic acid containing plant matter etc. or you need to start with a well forged bloomery iron and cast iron mix (or oxidize cast iron). In my opinion you will always get a better product in the end if you use the highest quality ingredients. There were many different methods of making crucible steel (Bulat, Pulad, Wootz) but only a very few created a good pattern and a high quality sword material. Many of the swords made of crucible steel in the early to mid 1800s were of inferior quality according to Abbott. He had one sword which was of the legendary quality. Anyway I hope you explore crucible steel however you do it. It does take time but it isn't as hard as many make out, it takes time and educating yourself and a willingness to explore new processes.