John Bishop’s early career in the oil industry began with
a mid-management position a leading company, before in 1962 he left
his role to found the Allied Speciality Chemical Company, manufacturing
and marketing specialist chemicals for use in the oil industry.
Following
six years at the helm of Allied Speciality, Bishop sold his company and
turned his focus into researching the claim made by leading metallurgical
experts that ‘95% of all mechanical
failure is directly related to friction and friction-related heat’.
Several years of intensive research enabled Bishop to develop and
perfect a proprietary lubrication and metal-treating concept known
as Permafused Lubrication (PfL)™ – a concept that has since
benefited all forms of industry and millions of consumers worldwide
for over 30 years.
In 1975, Bishop moved to Texas and established a manufacturing facility;
one year later announcing the launch of Lubrilon, a revolutionary
formula offering ‘lubrication for long life’. Restricted
from national advertising campaigns due to expense, Lubrilon was
first marketed to industrial, trucking and construction companies,
but before long Bishop approached W.O.Menlee, Don Shriver and John
Green of Homecare International.
One of America’s leading marketing companies specialising
in selling home care products, Homecare International subjected Bishop’s
formula to extensive testing, only for the engine treatment to far
exceed both Bishop’s and Homecare International’s expectations.
This success led the four men to form Petrolon Inc. in Houston,
Texas, and launch Slick 50 on the world. Although other labels and
products by John Bishop were available – including Z-Bond,
Matrix, Metalube and Duration – none received the same promotion
as Slick 50, and inevitably Slick 50 began to accrue unrivalled profits.
So much so that by April 1981 Petrolon’s monthly profit was
exceeding $6 million.
As the profits soared, Petrolon began to drive Bishop from the company
he had co-founded. In 1984 the inventor took his former partners
to court and successfully retained the exclusive rights to his formula.
Changing the name to Bishop’s Original, Bishop’s lawyers
instructed Petrolon to remove all claims from their products
pertaining to his formula.
With this legal success, in July 1994
John Bishop began to ship products from his own plant in Houston.
No more partners and no more private labels, just the original
products first discovered over 30 years ago.
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