Help finding medeco blank

[DIY Dave]

A few days ago a customer brought in this key to get a duplicate made. It goes to a cam lock on her gate operator. I haven't been able to find any blank for it. Does anyone recognize it? Would this key still be under patent?

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[MBI]

That's a Biaxial key so key blanks are no longer protected by patent, but there are very few Biaxial keyways that have generic blanks available. Just the most common ones.

For Medeco cam locks I can only think of two or three cam lock blanks of any generation of Medeco locks that are available as generic. Unfortunately this isn't one of them.

[DIY Dave]

That's a Biaxial key so key blanks are no longer protected by patent, but there are very few Biaxial keyways that have generic blanks available. Just the most common ones.

For Medeco cam locks I can only think of two or three cam lock blanks of any generation of Medeco locks that are available as generic. Unfortunately this isn't one of them.

How can you tell its a Biaxial? Does Medeco sell blanks to locksmiths once the patent runs out or do people still have to get keys directly through Medeco? I don't know too much about it because my shop rarely installs or services Medeco locks

[jeffmoss26]

The little circle is the biaxial logo.

[MBI]

Does Medeco sell blanks to locksmiths once the patent runs out or do people still have to get keys directly through Medeco? I don't know too much about it because my shop rarely installs or services Medeco locks

Even for blanks that have expired patents, if you are contracted as a Medeco distributor, you are legally bound via your contract with Medeco to continue to honor their key control agreements, even for the ORIGINAL stuff like the very old SKY keyway thats been out of patent for decades. There are generic blanks available for a small number of original and Biaxial restricted Medeco keyways, but if you are a contracted dealer you still can't make restricted keyway duplicates for someone on those older keyways unless they have the key control cards or aluminum tag. Seems silly, but Medeco is serious about it and vigorously enforces those contracts in court.

They also don't sell any restricted blanks to locksmiths, even for the older out-of-patent stuff, unless you get signed up as a Medeco dealer. That key you have there, I'd say you have strong chance it's a restricted keyway since I haven't seen that one available as generic. The question is, HOW restricted is it? Is it limited to a single locksmith or end-user? Or is it a fairly common one carried by a few hundred medeco locksmiths around the country, only exclusive to them within their very small geographic region? If it's the latter, you have a chance of finding blanks on ebay if you're not in a rush and you don't mind checking on a regular basis.

Restricted keys for various keyways come up on ebay all the time. Usually from dealers who are going out or have already gone out of business and they'll frequently obliterate their dealer number that is stamped on the bow of the key to keep from being sued by Medeco for selling the blanks in violation of their contract.

In this situation, your customer might need to contact Medeco directly to get duplicates or get referred to a dealer who can make duplicates for her, and she'll probably need her key control card to do it.

[DIY Dave]

Does Medeco sell blanks to locksmiths once the patent runs out or do people still have to get keys directly through Medeco? I don't know too much about it because my shop rarely installs or services Medeco locks

Even for blanks that have expired patents, if you are contracted as a Medeco distributor, you are legally bound via your contract with Medeco to continue to honor their key control agreements, even for the ORIGINAL stuff like the very old SKY keyway thats been out of patent for decades. There are generic blanks available for a small number of original and Biaxial restricted Medeco keyways, but if you are a contracted dealer you still can't make restricted keyway duplicates for someone on those older keyways unless they have the key control cards or aluminum tag. Seems silly, but Medeco is serious about it and vigorously enforces those contracts in court.

They also don't sell any restricted blanks to locksmiths, even for the older out-of-patent stuff, unless you get signed up as a Medeco dealer. That key you have there, I'd say you have strong chance it's a restricted keyway since I haven't seen that one available as generic. The question is, HOW restricted is it? Is it limited to a single locksmith or end-user? Or is it a fairly common one carried by a few hundred medeco locksmiths around the country, only exclusive to them within their very small geographic region? If it's the latter, you have a chance of finding blanks on ebay if you're not in a rush and you don't mind checking on a regular basis.

Restricted keys for various keyways come up on ebay all the time. Usually from dealers who are going out or have already gone out of business and they'll frequently obliterate their dealer number that is stamped on the bow of the key to keep from being sued by Medeco for selling the blanks in violation of their contract.

In this situation, your customer might need to contact Medeco directly to get duplicates or get referred to a dealer who can make duplicates for her, and she'll probably need her key control card to do it.

Thanks for the help. I don't believe she has a key control card. She didnt' really know about it being high security or anything, it's just what the company she hired installed on her gate box. They claim they can't get any more keys for her either. I told her she would probably just need to replace the lock with something less restricted.