I don't think Ontario's suit is on the web, but I've seen the US Patent Office documents where Ontario is trying to trademark what would be considered Randall trademarks by prior use.
RAT Trademark
RTAK Trademark

They filed these a year AFTER their contract with Randall was over. But I'm clueless too, I don't know what this could mean.

That's the only point I've been trying to make. We don;t know exactly what the suit is. We could do three things right now:

1. We could ask Ontario and get their view (not necessarily what the lawsuit is, exactly).

2. We could ask Rat Cutlery and get their view (not necessarily what the lawsuit is, exactly).

3. We could continue judging one or the other with a biased view without knowing what the lawsuit is about.

Yeah I just came upon it at blade with post date of 12/13/07 so didn't know that much can change in 2.5 months...

I was looking into RC3 since it will fit our budget for a work knife but now the rumor has it that they may be an orange handle rc3 that will be worth waiting for.

No idea when, but Jeff posted this picture of a possible future RC-3.



Looks great!!!!!!!!

Yeah mate. Few weeks ago I asked about a knife like that and RC-3 was one of the candidates. I was away for a while and last night while trying to order one I saw his posting and decided to wait for orange to come out. Sweet looking blade.

I am planning to get a desert tan one when they come out, but since my old High School colors were orange & black, I may have to get one of these as well!!!

IIRC, back in 03 I was looking around at what I considered high quality field grade knives (btw, my definition of field grade is something that isn't polished to a mirror finish with exotic wood handles and hard/brittle metal, or very soft/malleable metal), and seriously considered buying an RTAK. Then I happened upon the Busse knife website, and became an INFI addict. Nice to see someone else making knives that look very much like what Jerry Busse and crew have been building for years. If you can't afford to drop hundreds of dollars on a good fixed blade knife, then the Rat line isn't a bad choice at all.

I hope Randall and the Ontario folks work out their problems. I always figured market competition was the best way to settle such things. Once the lawyers get involved, no one wins but the lawyers.

Just came yesterday. Got it for $91 including shipping. Best price I could find. Can't wait to get out and play.

I simply couldn't resist any longer so yesterday I ordered a RAT RC-4. I will be anxiously awaiting its arrival. I also have a Ontario RAT 5 and I look forward to comparing them. I'm pretty sure that my next knife will be a RSK Mk3.

For what it's worth in reference to the discussion of the dispute between RAT and Ontario, I came across this on RAT's web site:

"RAT only guarantees and offers customer service on knives built by RAT Cutlery Company (knives found on this web site) and does not guarantee or offer any customer service for knives that are manufactured by any other company, regardless of the misuse of our trademarks."

It seems that the issue is ongoing.

I love the Ontario Rats!! Great purchase.