Just out of curiosity, has anyone asked Schneider?
Just out of curiosity, has anyone asked Schneider?
What if it had been labeled, "Rodenschlok, Gemanie", Bob? Would you bother to ask if there was any connection?
No, but I would want the factory to know that their IP was being violated.
In Schneider’s case the trademark was violated by the use of the Schneider name, the lens name and the lettering logos on the barrel.
We took trademark violations very seriously. When we first began distributing Heliopan we had a problem with someone importing Heliopan from somewhere in Germany and retailing them at an unsustainable price in the USA. That was why Heliopan assigned their trademark to us as we were not a subsidiary of the factory.
Turned out the guy doing this lived in very rural VA, was not registered with the state as a retailer, was not collecting sales tax, was not declaring his earnings on his income tax. He was simply benefiting from our advertising, our exhibiting at shows, our PR, etc..
Well, there were seemingly some incidental lenses here and there, for sure. But I was operating in construction supplies distribution where tens and even hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes alone can be transacted with respect to sneaking through massive quantities of substandard components. And we didn't stop with complaints. Detectives and even sometimes the FBI got involved, and people truly did go to prison. Our best catch was the Inspector General of a major city who got 12 years in the slammer. That's much harder to achieve when the Big Box chains do the same kind of deceptive labeling because they have such huge legal departments of their own. But with bribery, which is often involved too, it's easier to get at least a personal conviction, although the corporations themselves just get little slap on the wrist, even though knockoff distribution and false labeling is routine policy. Glad I'm retired. But glad I didn't retire in Florida with some new house reeking with formaldehyde from knock-off substandard drywall, or substandard nails that rust through in six months.
The heart of the matter is this....is it legal to pay for a fake lens with counterfeit money?
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
No. But it is appropriate to use such a lens with falsely branded film.
One more argument just to throw ALL of our lenses and film away and convert to Photoshop. Who needs anything real anymore?
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