Mul-t-Lock Keyway Restrictions?

by **n2oah** » 9 Jan 2006 20:48

I've heard that some Mul-t-lock keyways are restricted, and others are not. Omikron informed me that their 206 keyway is one of the only open keyways. Is this true? I could not find the 206 keyway for duplication of keys on mul-t-lock-online. The 206 key still says "Do Not Duplicate" and "Patented" on it. Also, I noticed they state "To purchase keys with 264G keyway you must send us copies of your key card from both sides and valid state ID (scan or photo)! We do not accept fax copies". What is so special about the 264G keyway?
Another thing I'd like to ask about is code stamping. It appears I have a code stamp on my 206 key, the numbers are 212--598-4437. Are these numbers the key bitting code?

by **webidiot2** » 9 Jan 2006 21:47

That number is RBD Lock & Alarm in New York City. As for the other open keyways none of the U.S patents for Mul T Lock keyblanks have expired. The 264 keyway will expire May 04 2007 (thanks to omikron for identifying it).

by **n2oah** » 9 Jan 2006 22:00

webidiot2 wrote:That number is RBD Lock & Alarm in New York City.

Odd, never thought of googling it. Thanks for the help. :wink:

by **Omikron** » 10 Jan 2006 2:32

n2oah,

I think you may have misunderstood me. :-P

When I say, "open keyway", I mean that any MTL dealer can cut keys for you WITH the appropriate ID card, not that the keyway is not patented. Furthermore, mul-t-lock-online.com is run by a locksmith, not by MTL USA. That locksmith also happens to use the 264G keyway, which is why you can order those keys from his site. If I were to sell you a MTL from my distributor, I could pick from keyways 206 and 248. If you bought a 206 keyway, any other dealer could help you out, provided you had the ID card for it. If you had the 248 keyway, only a select number of dealers could help you out. Does that make things a bit more clear?

by **webidiot2** » 24 Dec 2006 11:29

all of mul t locks key blank patents will be expired Dec 27th 2008. Hopefully they come up with some new ones. and the 264 keyway has expired.

by **webidiot2** » 24 Dec 2006 11:32

webidiot2 wrote:and the 264 keyway has expired.

god i wish i could edit this

it hasn't expired, but it will next year

by **plot** » 24 Dec 2006 11:41

I have the 206 keyway and the 006(non-interactive) keyways on my mul-t-locks.

And wow, mul-t-lock-online.com is awesome. How long has that site been around? When I was looking for mul-t-lock's a few years ago I basically had the choice between ebay and a very small seleection on a few different websites.

Now to find one for abloy...

by **linty** » 24 Dec 2006 16:02

how can this be? i thought that all the 2xx keyways had an interactive pin on the second spot, but there's no way that the patent has been out there for 15 years already??

by **webidiot2** » 25 Dec 2006 4:37

I was wrong I was only looking at design patents for their keyways. I was not thinking about looking at the lock patents (utility patents). Since a utility patent consists of working parts not "ornamental design" that makes it a utility patent. Utility patents last 20 years from the filing date. The Interactive should expire Nov. 14th 2014.

by **Raccoon** » 25 Dec 2006 4:58

webidiot2 wrote:That number is RBD Lock & Alarm in New York City. As for the other open keyways none of the U.S patents for Mul T Lock keyblanks have expired. The 264 keyway will expire May 04 2007 (thanks to omikron for identifying it).

Is that number really intended to be a phone number stamped on the key? If not, what an excellent coincidence that it's a lock & key joint. I'd offer to sell that lock to them as a piece of novelty.

by **WOT** » 25 Dec 2006 6:43

There is one Mul-t-lock blank listed in ilco catalog. Just one.

by **dosman** » 25 Dec 2006 12:28

Raccoon wrote:Is that number really intended to be a phone number stamped on the key? If not, what an excellent coincidence that it's a lock & key joint. I'd offer to sell that lock to them as a piece of novelty.

It would seem to be a common practice, my MTL Interactive keys have a locksmiths phone number scribed on them as well (Different shop).

by **linty** » 25 Dec 2006 16:21

WOT wrote:There is one Mul-t-lock blank listed in ilco catalog. Just one.

that's the one that has no grooves at all, right?

i've yet to see a cylinder made for that key actually.

by **linty** » 25 Dec 2006 16:22

webidiot2 wrote:I was wrong I was only looking at design patents for their keyways. I was not thinking about looking at the lock patents (utility patents). Since a utility patent consists of working parts not "ornamental design" that makes it a utility patent. Utility patents last 20 years from the filing date. The Interactive should expire Nov. 14th 2014.

are you sure about that? i had always thought it was 17 years for utility.

by **dosman** » 26 Dec 2006 0:56

I've only found key blanks other than MTK2P in Silca's catalogs. They have 9 different MTL blanks available. This particular catalog also has some interesting diagrams of the tools used to cut the blanks (For several different key types besides MTL).

Page 11 is Mul-T-Lock:
http://www.duitman.nl/silca/matrix_SX_SLX_SG18.pdf

Mul-t-Lock Keyway Restrictions?

Mul-t-Lock Keyway Restrictions?

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