[pianotech] Carbon Fiber Lever (was Hammer Technique: was Q & ARoundtable)

[Mark Purney]

The ebay one is just a cheap knock-off with a carbon tube glued to a 
round wood handle and a fixed head. The Fujan lets you interchange tubes 
of different lengths, change the wood handle end, and change the head. 
And the Fujan is something we know to be a top quality product.

As for the second one, my understanding is that the person who makes the 
copy took advantage of Steve by purchasing an original Fujan, then asked 
lots of questions about where the materials came from and how it was 
made, while pretending to just be a curious customer. Because of that, I 
think Steve would totally have a case if he chose to pursue action, but 
he's just a really nice guy who wants to make tuning levers, and not be 
involved with ugly litigation. I've said it before, and I'll say it 
again:  I hope people will choose to support Steve Fujan, the originator 
of the carbon tube design, and not reward someone else by purchasing a 
blatant copy (except for the head, which is still far inferior to the 
original Fujan design).

This brings up an interesting question:  Is the person who copied the 
design a member of the PTG? And if so, is the Code of Ethics 
(particularly parts #1 and #3) dishonored when something like this 
happens? In my opinion, it looks really bad if a sanctioned member of 
our organization uses dishonest means to copy the design of someone 
outside of the organization for profit. The fact someone else has 
brought this up prompts me to think that perhaps I'm not alone in 
feeling uncomfortable about this situation.






On 2/6/2011 10:37 AM, Kurt Baxter wrote:
>
> I am curious how Steve Fujan feels about the likes of:
>
>  ( 
> http://cgi.ebay.com/CARBON-FIBER-PIANO-TUNING-HAMMER-LEVER-SAVE-50-/220731445721?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item33649e91d9#ht_1599wt_1026 
> <http://cgi.ebay.com/CARBON-FIBER-PIANO-TUNING-HAMMER-LEVER-SAVE-50-/220731445721?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item33649e91d9#ht_1599wt_1026> 
> )
>
> And: http://www.tuningpindriver.com/
>
> Isn't there a case for patent infringement here?
>
>
>