Am I permitted to use the word CheyTac®?

Question:        

• Am I permitted to use the word CheyTac®?
• Am I permitted to buy and use ammunition chambered for my CheyTac-caliber gun from anybody I choose?
• Am I permitted to sell products related to the CheyTac calibers?
• Am I permitted to manufacture guns, chamber reamers, reloading dies, suppressors, ammunition or other related products in the two CheyTac calibers?

Short answer: YES

Longer answer:

1. CheyTac is the name of a company, CheyTac USA LLC. (Back in 2017 that company was headquartered in Charleston, SC. Apparently since then the assets were sold to a company in Huntingdon, TN.)
2. CheyTac is also the name of a caliber developed by Dr. John D. Taylor and machinist William O. Wordman.
3. The last time we checked, CheyTac is also a trademark registered in the US Patent office held by CheyTac USA LLC.

The caliber Taylor and Wordman came up with was the .408 CheyTac. Since then someone necked it down to .375 and that has become the more popular of the two CheyTac calibers here in the US. (The .408 tends to be more popular in Europe.) Dr. Taylor explained to us that the name is the combination of the words Cheyenne and Tactical.

The CheyTac calibers are called “wildcats” here in the US, which means they have no defined specifications by SAAMI, the standards organization for guns and ammunition in the US. CIP is the standards organization for pretty much the rest of the world. And the .408 CheyTac is CIP spec’d. Our company, Peterson Cartridge, has submitted specs to CIP for the .375 caliber. So, we expect that before long it will no longer be a wildcat either.

In 2016 the former president of “CheyTac the company” sent letters to many people involved with shooting and using guns chambered in the CheyTac calibers, telling them they had to “Cease and Desist” from their activities. Letters also went out to folks who sold or made guns and accessories for these calibers.

Peterson Cartridge CheyTac Headstamp

Do you have to cease and desist? The answer is “NO”.

To avoid any trademark issues with CheyTac USA, LLC we at Peterson Cartridge just refer to the calibers by their metric designations. The dimensions in metric for the .408 are 10.36 x 77. The .375 is 9.5 x 77.

At Peterson Cartridge we state both the metric and the imperial caliber designation on our headstamps like this: .375 (9.5x77) without using the word CheyTac. If you make gun barrels or reamers or reloading dies you can do the same without infringing CheyTac’s trademark.

The trademark owner has the right to prevent you from purporting to be CheyTac. But the trademark doesn’t give them the right to prevent you from buying or using the caliber. Also, if you make products in one of the calibers, and stamp them with the metric designation it does not infringe their trademark.

Anytime you want to include the name CheyTac in your print materials, like literature, packaging or marketing materials, you can do what we do. Put the R in a circle after their name, with an asterisk. Then at the bottom of the piece state that CheyTac is a trademark registered to CheyTac. For an example see the bottom of this document.

The reason we are publishing this clarification about the CheyTac trademark is because we want to promote the use of guns chambered in these calibers. The .408 (10.36 x 77) and the .375 (9.5 x 77) are high performing, flat shooting, ELD calibers. We’d like to see more people shooting them. We make brass rifle casings in these calibers. The industry used to struggle with getting good, match-grade, brass casings in these calibers. Our company solved that problem. The 2017 “King of 2 Mile” competition was won using Peterson Cartridge .375 brass.

Peterson Cartridge is a family-owned, American manufacturer of match-grade, brass rifle casings and loaded ammunition that is among the most precise and consistent on the market, delivering discerning long-distance shooters sub-MOA accuracy. For more information on Peterson Cartridge or to purchase its match-grade brass casings, or loaded ammunition, visit www.petersoncartridge.com. 

*CheyTac is a registered trademark of CheyTac USA, LLC. Peterson Cartridge has no affiliation with them.