Andrew P
Well-Known Member
Hey Guys,
It has come to light that a gentleman by the name of John Beath, owner of Squid Pro Tackle in Washington has gone and blatantly knocked off my spoon design, and namely my 3” AP Anchovy Spoon, and misrepresenting my design as his own, even though we have been selling in the Washington market for over 5 years. It is an exact replica with the same asymmetrical stainless steel blank (they even have the same kick of the tail to the left and same diamond shape at the tail), same curves/contours. The only difference that I can see is that he’s added swivels on both ends of the spoon and then gone and given them the exact same paint job as a Coho Killer, another classy move. I've contacted Silver Horde and brought it to their attention also.
I called John on the phone yesterday to hear directly from him as to why he’s done this. The conversation that transpired leaves me very saddened about the state of our fishing industry. He seems to thinks it is perfectly acceptable to copy and misrepresent another angler’s work and claim it as his own. He actually said “my design is way different…mine is 3.25”. Wow. I let him know that I make them from ¾” up to 7” and just because his replica is ¼” longer than my 3” version…that it doesn’t change the fact that he simply copied it claiming it to be his own. He really did sound like he was caught off guard that I would ever find out and call him on it.
We make every single one of our spoons right here in Victoria, BC, so it is very easy for us to spot a copy, perhaps he didn't know how small we are.
His explanation of how he ‘came up the design is: “What I have is a good design…um company…um, factory that helps me with bends and figure out what to make, and that’s what I’ve done”.
Anyways, I am pretty bummed to have to write this…but I can’t sit idle and let someone steal from my family and my employee (a single mother of 2). If anyone knows this guy it would be nice to point out to him how small our PNW fishing community really is and that this is very much not cool. Time to lawyer up.
Our Spoons: the one he has copied is the 3" Anchovy, 1 to right of center.
His 'prototype' from earlier this year...
And the full knock off...
It has come to light that a gentleman by the name of John Beath, owner of Squid Pro Tackle in Washington has gone and blatantly knocked off my spoon design, and namely my 3” AP Anchovy Spoon, and misrepresenting my design as his own, even though we have been selling in the Washington market for over 5 years. It is an exact replica with the same asymmetrical stainless steel blank (they even have the same kick of the tail to the left and same diamond shape at the tail), same curves/contours. The only difference that I can see is that he’s added swivels on both ends of the spoon and then gone and given them the exact same paint job as a Coho Killer, another classy move. I've contacted Silver Horde and brought it to their attention also.
I called John on the phone yesterday to hear directly from him as to why he’s done this. The conversation that transpired leaves me very saddened about the state of our fishing industry. He seems to thinks it is perfectly acceptable to copy and misrepresent another angler’s work and claim it as his own. He actually said “my design is way different…mine is 3.25”. Wow. I let him know that I make them from ¾” up to 7” and just because his replica is ¼” longer than my 3” version…that it doesn’t change the fact that he simply copied it claiming it to be his own. He really did sound like he was caught off guard that I would ever find out and call him on it.
We make every single one of our spoons right here in Victoria, BC, so it is very easy for us to spot a copy, perhaps he didn't know how small we are.
His explanation of how he ‘came up the design is: “What I have is a good design…um company…um, factory that helps me with bends and figure out what to make, and that’s what I’ve done”.
Anyways, I am pretty bummed to have to write this…but I can’t sit idle and let someone steal from my family and my employee (a single mother of 2). If anyone knows this guy it would be nice to point out to him how small our PNW fishing community really is and that this is very much not cool. Time to lawyer up.
Our Spoons: the one he has copied is the 3" Anchovy, 1 to right of center.
His 'prototype' from earlier this year...
And the full knock off...
