View single post by Matt V
 Posted: Wed Jun 20th, 2007 11:29 pm
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Matt V

 

Joined: Wed May 30th, 2007
Location: Twin Cities, Minnesota USA
Posts: 104
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The name Steinhart first surfaced through Simon Steinhart, a gentleman who managed a well established watch company in the early 1900s.

:X  Oh brother.... how they are desperate to create ANY provenance to "real" watchmaking. As if this had anything to do with "Steinhart & Elbl GbR"....

The other, much larger, watch company threatened to sue if we did not change our name and our logo.

Hmmm.. the application for a trademark "Steinhart" http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=76655806 wasn't successful (Current Status: An office action making FINAL a refusal to register the mark has been mailed. Date of Status: 2007-01-19) and the word is out about QA issues with their watches.

Oddly enough, they already filed for trademark protection of the new name back in November 2006 (see the USPTO site).

Foresight or Coincidence? :?

How convenient to come up with this story ... and even continue to exploit it
Here were are, a small independent company that, without even trying, made a much larger company feel threatened. Imagine that.

Who would actually feel threatened by them? Steinhausen? :shock: But it gets better:

The origins of the Débaufré name can be traced back to the year 1704, when in conjunction with Nicholas Facio, Jacob and Peter Débaufré were granted a patent for the application of jewels to the pivot holes of watches and clocks which revolutionized the art of watch-making, a practice so far ahead of its time that it still is used today in most mechanical watches.

Honestly, I am turned off by such a desperate attempt to create a connection with watchmaking history and provenance. Dishonest fluff and unfortunately, many innocent buyers may fall for such a deception. :(

fraud (frôd) pronunciation
n.

1. A deception deliberately practiced in order to secure unfair or unlawful gain.
2. A piece of trickery; a trick.
 
1. One that defrauds; a cheat.
2. One who assumes a false pose; an impostor.

Steinhausen, Klaus Kobec, Krug Baumen ... and now these guys! :X

JM2C and YMMV

Matt