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Plagiarius Award: Imitation of RUKO's ULTIMATECUT step drill awarded negative prize

The RUKO ULTIMATECUT step drill was copied by the company Karnasch Professional Tools GmbH in geometry, product design and marketing message. This case of particularly brazen imitation has now been honored by the Plagiarius e.V. campaign with its negative prize.

RUKO's ULTIMATECUT step drill has been available from specialist retailers since April 2019. This year, a copy of the product appeared on the tool market. The original from RUKO and the imitation from Karnasch look confusingly similar. Karnasch has copied the product down to the last detail: The product and advertising texts have been adopted almost unchanged.

This case of brazen imitation was honored by an independent jury of experts from the Plagiarius e.V. campaign. The association has been awarding the dreaded invective prize to manufacturers and retailers of particularly brazen plagiarisms and counterfeits since 1977. The aim of the Plagiarius campaign is to raise public awareness of the dubious business practices of product and brand pirates and to sensitize industry, politicians and consumers to the problem.

RUKO Managing Director Ronald Weber: "As a 5-in-1 tool, the ULTIMATECUT step drill is a real innovation for the craft and has a patent pending. Our team, especially our developers, have worked long and hard to develop such an unique tool. For this reason, such bold plagiarism is all the more annoying. I would like to thank the jury on behalf of RUKO for recognizing our innovative performance."

The ULTIMATECUT step drill combines up to five tools in one by covering and complementing applications of twist drills, core drills, step drills, deburring and center punches. This makes RUKO's innovation a true multitool that is the solution to many challenges faced by professional users.

13 different hole diameters of up to 27 mm in one drilling process and automatic center punching and deburring shorten the working process by up to 75 percent. Reaching hard-to-reach places and eliminating tool changes provide ultimate flexibility. These are just a few of the advantages that the multitool brings.

RUKO development manager David Ondra: "The ULTIMATECUT step drill is the solution to many challenges of professional users who drill in metal, but also in plastics and wood. Our step drill is the optimal addition to any toolbox."

About Plagiarius

The "Plagiarius" negative prize was awarded for the 45th time on April 16, 2021 - corona-related for the first time as part of a virtual press conference. Plagiarius e.V. has been awarding this dreaded prize to manufacturers and retailers of particularly brazen plagiarisms and counterfeits since 1977. The award says nothing about whether a counterfeit product is legally permitted or illegal. The aim of the Plagiarius campaign is rather to raise public awareness of the questionable business methods of product and brand pirates and to sensitize industry, politicians and consumers to the problem. The trophy is a black dwarf with a golden nose. The latter symbolizes the immense profits that unimaginative imitators literally earn at the expense of creative and innovative companies.

Before the annually changing jury selects the award winners, the alleged plagiarists are informed of their nomination and given the opportunity to comment. The jury is not concerned with branding legal competitor products. Rather, the intention is to put the spotlight on clumsy 1:1 imitations that deliberately look confusingly similar to the original product and show no creative or constructive contribution of their own. Fortunately, numerous imitators have already sought an agreement with the original manufacturer out of fear of being awarded the "Plagiarius" and have, for example, taken residual stocks of the plagiarized products off the market, signed cease-and-desist declarations or disclosed their suppliers.

ULTIMATECUT

The ULTIMATECUT product line from RUKO offers industry and professional users innovative and high-quality precision tools, for the most demanding applications. RUKO manufactures the high-quality precision tools in its own production in Germany. In addition to the ULTIMATECUT step drill, ULTIMATECUT countersinks are also available. All ULTIMATECUT products are finished with RUKO's own nano Technology coating.

RUKO nano Technology coating

The RUKO nano Technology (RUnaTEC) coating is a special nanocomposite which chemically combines the three elements aluminum, titanium and nitrogen. The difference to conventional coatings (e. g. the AlTiN coating, which combines the same components) is the nano and microstructure of the coating.

A special process is used to achieve a nanocomposite structure that reinforces the properties, for example an extremely high nano-hardness (45 gigapascals). This means that, in addition to low cutting speeds, very high cutting speeds can be run, thereby significantly accelerating work processes. Other positive properties are the extremely high wear resistance and the strong reduction of material welds.

About the RUKO group

RUKO GmbH Präzisionswerkzeuge is one of the world's leading manufacturers of high-quality drilling, countersinking and cutting tools for metal cutting since 1974. The medium-sized, internationally operating industrial company develops, produces, and sells products and individual solutions for all production stages of the machining industry. It serves a worldwide clientele with 250 employees in seven branches and two production sites.