Leupold sells its products to three unique markets; Hunting/Shooting, Observation and
Tactical. Our riflescopes are used for hunting and target shooting all over this great country
and, in fact, all over the world. Our tactical line of riflescopes is used extensively by law
enforcement officers and by many branches of our military. Our troops in Afghanistan and
Iraq rely on our riflescopes on a daily basis to complete their missions.
Aside from the U.S., we have distributors and/or representation in Austria, Australia, Belgium,
Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Holland,
Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Mexico, New Caledonia, New Zealand,
Norway, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Serbia & Montenegro, South Africa,
Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Ukraine and United Arab Emirates. Although
we source components and finished goods such as binoculars and range finders from China,
we do not export riflescopes there due to Tiananmen Square-related Sanctions that are in place
at the U.S. State Department. If market conditions in China and export laws were to change in
the future, Leupold would consider expansion into this market just as we have done elsewhere
in the world.
Before we begin to recount the history of what has transpired in regards to Leupold's efforts to
trademark and protect our brand LEUPOLD in China, I do want to state for the record that
Leupold has strong business partners in China. Most companies and authorities that we have
dealt with in China and certainly those relationships and partnerships that are currently in
place are based upon mutual respect, trust, honor and proper business ethics. From Leupold's
perspective, we find it most unfortunate that with such positive business dealings with our
many partners in China that a single company could cause us such problems. What is more
troublesome however is that with the extent of trade between China and the U.S. and all of the
international agreements, conventions and protocols that China has acceded to, one would
think that the PRC intellectual property laws would not allow such behavior. That has not
been the case, at least from our experience over the past five years.
In December 2001, Leupold & Stevens learned that an application for the word mark
LEUPOLD, in English, had been filed in the People's Republic of China for goods including
those manufactured and sold by Leupold & Stevens. That application, filed for goods in
International Class 13, was owned by a company called SAM Optics (Nantong) Company
Ltd., hereafter SAM Optics. Note that Leupold & Stevens has never had a relationship with
SAMOptics in any capacity, either as a distributor, retailer, or manufacturing partner.