I’ll admit I do like these interviews, James doesn’t shy away much from uncomfortable topics. The Rare Breed one was 80% informative and 20% weird spin. 

I’m not a user of B&T products but have always like Karl in interviews - seems like someone who just liked designing things and seeing them out in the world. The past interview and this one kinda solidify that for me.

No matter how flat you make a pancake it has two sides, but the short story is B&T needed a US arm to get some contracts many years ago. To sell here, there “may” have been some requirement the entity is US owned (51%) so they formed an operating agreement with someone to use the logo and supply items. As a minority owner they had minimal overhead and control. B&T US would take orders from US clients for parts, then would order said parts from the Swiss entity for production.

It’s heavily implied in this interview (and somewhat stated) the US arm was at best poorly managed in certain functions and at worst knowingly doing things not to a professional standard and in the spirit of the agreement. 

Lots of customers have been needling the Swiss entity as to where their orders are - and the Swiss are like what orders….. Swiss wants its logo back and to find a way to continue operations in the US. BT US seems to want the logo to continue operations as its own entity (to be fair I’ve not read the filings nor care to).

B&T Founder Breaks Silence on B&T USA Lawsuit