Lure designer Steve Parks is a 10th-degree black belt in karate, so he's well equipped to defend himself. At ICAST this week, he also had to defend his creation – the Rage Tail design that Strike King has incorporated into a line of soft plastics since 2006.
According to a report today in Fishing Tackle Retailer, Parks was tipped off that another exhibitor at the show had entered a bait in the New Product Showcase that closely resembled the Rage Tail Craw – it even went by the same name.
After consulting with American Sportfishing Association officials, Parks confronted representatives of Shanghai-based Headstream Tackle at its booth and discovered other soft plastic baits there that were knockoffs of other U.S. brands. He accused them of patent infringement and Headstream had its Rage Tail copies confiscated.
Parks also personally escorted Headstream exhibitors to the New Product Showcase and watched them remove the Rage Tail Craw from display.
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