This is not new news, but to those just hearing about it I wanted to give you a heads up. I don't believe any of our customers will have this problem, but it is something to be aware of.
To the best of my knowledge this has not been an issue for any Caney Creek customers. It's been going on for some time and I'm sure I would have heard about it if one of you received a letter. The person who received this letter does not sell baits made from our molds.
With that said, I have received a couple questions regarding a letter someone received from Strike King because of the baits they were selling. They were asking if our molds were safe or if they needed to be concerned about a patent infringement.
I have been aware of this patent for quite some time. I spoke to Strike King's attorneys office in Oklahoma very early this year about this topic. What they are looking to protect is their patent that covers the Rage Tail. I believe there may be baits/molds available that may infringe on this patent, however, after speaking with them do not believe we have any baits/molds that remotely come close to infringing on it.
The patent specifically outlines their claims. The claim I believe that is of most relevance is the thickness of the outside edge of an appendage vs. the inside edge. The patent reads as follows, "The fishing lure of claim 1 wherein the outside edge is at least two times thicker than the center portion.".
We have baits with a bevel making the outside edge thicker than the center, but none that are two times thicker or greater. As I mentioned above, I already knew about this patent and have made sure we avoided making any of our appendages this way to specifically avoid this problem.
We were just discussing this the other day in a different thread, but I will restate it again, Caney Creek respects all intellectual property, patented or not. If we happen to make something like someone else it is not intentional, and we will rectify it as appropriate.
Kind of a bummer post, but I wanted you to know we are, and have been aware of this, and are constantly working to try and make sure we never get in this position.
Thanks,
Jason
