Now here’s a thought provoking bit of news (thanks go out to ORCA for the tip). Smokies Gun Factory were/are planning on releasing a gas 6mm Airsoft M1 Garand, and had a prototype mostly done – they even announced that it was coming (with promo shots) in the back of Guns Digest 2005 at an RRP of 158,000Yen – which isn’t exactly cheap mind you.
According to the relevant page on Smokies there’s a legal dispute about the patent. The text basically says that they apologise but because of a recent development they’ve had to postpone the M1 Garand release because of patent issues. If they manage to resolve the current issue they will update their own webpage and relevant magazine articles.
Given that it’s fairly unusal for any Japanese manufacturer to be the subject of Western patent enforcement it’s very likely that the patent issue that they mention is between SGF and a local (possibly Japanese) patent holder, probably a manufacturer/retailer – after all why hold a patent on something unless you build or sell it? So the question has to be asked, who exactly is it in Japan who holds the patent for the M1 Garand? The other possibility is that there’s a specific patent that covers the gas system or inner workings… but that seems highly unlikely given the inherent simplicity of a straight line gas valve system.
