No more BAM guns guns in the US?

[HNT5]

This was posted over on the Yellow Chinese Forum by Stephan Archer, owner of Archer Airguns. I doubt he would post something like this just to be malicious. He claims this info came from the SHOT Show.
Read it for yourselves

http://www.network54.com/Forum/113813/thread/1263946254/News+from+the+SHOT+Show

Nathan

[joek]

If BAM is going to be a OEM manufacturer, the QC on the guns may improve. case in point, the crosman quest is a much better gun than the B18 and B19 were. down side is we won't have the whole model line anymore

[RedFeather]

Doesn't Mike Melick sell the B series? I thought he had just acquired a new building, etc, for his business? Say it ain't so!  :0

[HILMAN76]

RedFeather, I was thinking the same thing. That's going to SUCK! I hope all the best to Mike, hes a great dude to deal with. I'm glad I bought my MM B26 and MM B25 when I did. I hope this doesn't hurt Mike or Archer's business. This really is bad news

[RedFeather]

Man, it can't help. What is Mike's connection to Best Airguns? Was he hired to run it or is that his? Saw his thread on the Chinese here about their acquiring a new building this January. Rug pulled out from under? And didn't he visit over there last summer? Let's hope he has some influence.

[jberenyi]

Mike can always convert the warehouse building into an airgun range and charge money

[Mryan21]

Still hope i can buy a Mike tuned b-26..And i hope this doesn't hurt him...

[arathol]

I doubt the models will go away. The BAM name has become synonomous with cheap Chinese rifles. The Beeman name has for a long time been connected with high quality guns. I suspect once the BAM name fades away you'll see a horde of Chinese made Beeman guns. Name recognition will sell guns. Think of the possibilities now that the Chinese can finally put the Beeman name on a gun that is an inferior copy of an R-9,  and meanwhile real R-9s with the Beeman name will be sold by a distributor on the East Coast.

[pindog2000]

i think prices will go up :0

[Rontier]

THEY HAVE GONE UP ON THE B'S .
JUST GOT A B12 FROM MIKE & HE WAS WANTING ME TO GET A QB78 BUT DID NOT HAVE THE NEW ONES IN YET, BUT i'M SOLD ON SPRINGERS FOR NOW!
& HOPE ALL THE BEST FOR MIKE & CO.

[RedFeather]

The new Beeman cannot put its name on a BAM20 and pass it off as an R9. No way. Even if they tried, all of the air gun forums would laugh them off the planet. Not that a BAM20 isn't good. Just that would be illegal for one, and foolish for another.

Well, at least Mike has established a good rep for himself as a tuner. Plenty of "Pre-ban BAM's" (I'm thinking of copyrighting that) to last him a long time.

[atchman2]

Maybe there is a cut off day as well.  You never know, they may let Mike "brand" his or become the single distributor for the USA.  Canon Medical did that, they just got tired of dealing with all of us little guys and consolidated into a single distributor.  All of us buy from them.

[arathol]

"The new Beeman cannot put its name on a BAM20 and pass it off as an R9. No way. Even if they tried, all of the air gun forums would laugh them off the planet. Not that a BAM20 isn't good. Just that would be illegal for one, and foolish for another."

Umm, yeahhhh..... I can hear it now......

Looks like an R-9, got the Beeman name on it, Beeman makes really good guns right? Must be the same thing?

The majority of the airgun buyers out there won't know the difference until its too late. Its no different than Turkish made Webleys, or Walthers and Remingtons made in China. Brand recognition will be used to dupe unknowing buyers into purchasing inferior products. Its being done right now and it will only get worse.

As for illegal, since when did the Chinese give a crap about American laws concerning copyrights, patents, etc. Every one of those German and English clones are unlicensed copies, isn't that illegal? And what about those Techforce guns with a cheap copy of the Rekord trigger? Are they legally producedcopies? I doubt it.

[RedFeather]

I think HW, the manufacturer, would have a LOT to say about it. Beeman, essentially, contracted with HW to provide a special run of their existing gun. For the Chinese to copy it and pass it off as a genuine Beeman R-9 would likely violate the older Beeman/HW agreement under US laws.

As to patent laws, you have to file a patent in each country in which you intend to do business. If you feel it has been violated, you must pursue it in that country's patent courts. From what I've read, it is not worth the trouble to file in China. You are supposed to have 12 months in which to file if you think your product is being copied. In reality, the period is six months. (i.e. - If the Chinese company files first, you are screwed.)