eBay yanked a couple patent ads because they contained the trademarked name "Shopsmith". If you don't know about this tool it's sort of a food processor for woodworking. It's a table saw, it's a lathe, it's a drill press, etc. The original "Shopsmith" tool was invented in the early 1940's by a German immigrant who wanted to invent something that would sell. (Not a bad idea.) He founded the company Magna Engineering and they soon put into production the first of many "Shopsmith" tools, the 5-in-1 10ER. The name "Shopsmith" comes from a dinner party that the owner threw where the cost of admittance was a name for his new product. Because it did so many things the runner-up name was the chauvinistic "Mix-Mister", but in the end the winner was "Shopsmith".Let me digress a moment...
A lot of folks don't know that the JEEP vehicle was made by several companies, including: Ford, Willys, AMC, Chrysler and now Daimler-Chrysler. Why do I mention this? Because just like the JEEP name the "Shopsmith" name has passed-on from one tool manufacturer to another until it finally came to rest where it has been since 1972, in Dayton Ohio. Before '72 the name "Shopsmith" always defined a line of tools made by the parent company, but in '72 Mr. John Folkerth picked the name "Shopsmith" as the name for his new company, Shopsmith Inc. This is where our problems begin.
I guess a lot of folks have been selling products that were never made by Shopsmith Inc, Magna Engineering Corp., Magna America Corp. or YUBA and have been using the name "Shopsmith" in their ads. Obviously this is unethical, and Shopsmith Inc has every right, and ebay has the responsibility to have these items either removed or edited.
That brings this post back to us. The patents we had posted as "Shopsmith Bandsaw" for example, where in fact patented by Magna engineering and sold under the name "Shopsmith". This is a fact, as can be seen in the ad above. At the request of Shopsmith Inc our ads were pulled by ebay because we were not authorized to use the name "Shopsmith", and our requests for such permission were not granted because of what the President implied was a slippery slope. Without a doubt selling a Chinese dado blade purchased at Odd Lots as a "Shopsmith" product would be a gross violation, but selling a US Patent Office print for a tool that was sold under the name "Shopsmith", and which is to this day sold by a company called "Shopsmith Inc"... I don't get it.
So, if you are interested in selling or purchasing Shopsmith product on ebay I suggest you use the term " Shop Smith", as this is not a trademark owned by Shopsmith Inc.
