I think this is more a moral issue rather than legal. We are not lawyers looking to prosecute ganzo, we are just people looking to make the right decision for ourselves. And there is a distinction between legal and moral. We must consider whether laws are moral because to follow all laws without question is extreme and unreasonable.
Regarding IP, I think there are good and bad applications of the law, and one should look at each case individually to determine if one can morally support a company violating the law.
Back to the original topic, I have not handled any ganzo knives, but I have handled some byrds and they are very nice quality.