Hello,
I am wondering if someone else is selling cellphone cover and im selling cellphone cover, but we both have the same design style on the case.
For example let say this wholesale company owns this cellphone design style first, then i start selling this cellphone design style afterwards but I'm not getting it from this wholesaler instead I get it from someone else at an better rate, but the case is generic, meaning nowhere in the cellphone cover represents that company brand in his or my product, althought they're an wholesale company & I am 99% they're registered. They also do have their company tagged into the package that came into their product, but since I'm getting from my own supplier im also tagging my logo in my package. So our only similarity is the fact that the design style is made exactly the same, including its material i believe as it feels the same for both, what made me thinking it was legal is because there are no brand logo on the cellphone cover anywhere itself. Just double confirming here that it's legal so i don't deal with getting sued or anything like that. We're both located in the United States, so us laws.
http://m5.paperblog.com/i/10/104608/...-L-uRqbv4.jpeg
Can You Make Your Product Look Like One Sold By a Competitor
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11-01-2012, 01:09 PMsunlayliteCan You Make Your Product Look Like One Sold By a Competitor
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11-01-2012, 02:30 PMflyingronRe: Is It Illegal to Sell Product Looking the Same As Someone Else's
The artwork may be protected by both copyright and design patent. The fact that there is no logo does not give you the right to steal with impunity.
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11-01-2012, 03:25 PMsunlayliteRe: Is It Illegal to Sell Product Looking the Same As Someone Else'sHello,Quote:
Quoting flyingron
Is there any possible way how i can tell if the artwork is protected or not? also will i get sued for this? What if i change 1 little color on that artwork or addon 1 thing, will that be consider an total new design? -
11-01-2012, 03:26 PMflyingronRe: Is It Illegal to Sell Product Looking the Same As Someone Else's
Can you tell if the artwork is protected: Not without asking the creator.
Will you get sued: It's possible.
Tweaking it does not generate original work. -
11-01-2012, 03:48 PMsunlayliteRe: Is It Illegal to Sell Product Looking the Same As Someone Else'sHello,Quote:
Quoting flyingron
Yeah that's the problem i have no idea if the artwork is protected or not, as right now there is 2 big seller selling this design, if I join it makes 3. What makes my head hurt is I have no idea of this being protected or not, as both the big seller are both selling it finely and im 99% sure they don't get from each other. -
11-01-2012, 06:12 PMflyingronRe: Is It Illegal to Sell Product Looking the Same As Someone Else's
You don't need to have your head hurt. Let me make it plain and simple for you. Unless you have direct evidence that it is in the public domain or you have explicit authorization to use it NEITHER OF WHICH YOU HAVE, you CAN NOT USE IT without risking being sued. Further, in some circumstances, you can become fined for just importing counterfeit merchandise into the US.
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11-01-2012, 06:23 PMjkRe: Is It Illegal to Sell Product Looking the Same As Someone Else'sall artwork enjoys copyright protection simply by virtue of it being created. Unless there is some reason it would not have copyright protection, such as what Ron mentioned, act like it is protected. If the owner of the work takes offense with you selling items with their artwork on them, plan an being sued.Quote:
Quoting sunlaylite
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11-02-2012, 07:28 AMllworkingRe: Can You Make Your Product Look Like One Sold By a CompetitorI am copying and pasting the same answer I gave you on another forum:Quote:
Quoting sunlaylite
OK...lets break this down a little.
Company A designs a cell phone cover and then contracts with a company in China to produce that cover. That might very well be a copywrited or patented (depending on the situation) design. In that scenario if you were to then contract with a different company in China to produce a similar product, you could be in violation of copywrite/design laws and have problems.
However, in a different Scenario where the company in China designs the product, and then markets it to US companies, You would be perfectly safe. The wholesaler you purchase from might have a problem if they contractually are only supposed to sell in a certain region of the US, or even the company in China could be in violation of contracts between them and the wholesaler, but YOU would not have a problem.
There are huge amounts of products that are sold by everyone, everywhere. There are much smaller numbers of products that have any copywrite or patent design, and most of those products involve either very specific kinds of designs or technology. As long as you are purchasing your cell phone covers from a normal company, without any clandestine efforts, its highly unlikely that you would have any problem...somebody else might, but you won't.
Here is a real life example. Once upon a time there was a brand of watch that was really popular because of its design. It was manufactured in Europe and the amounts provided to wholesalers and retailers in Europe were limited in order to keep interest high. One of those, everybody wants one, but not only are they expensive but they are hard to find, kind of deals.
However, those restrictions did not apply to the US, the wholesalers and retailers in the US could buy as many as they wanted. So, a very aggressive sales rep in Europe made a deal with an equally aggressive sales rep in the US, and suddenly, all kinds of these watches were available in a specific country in Europe...with an added markup for having sailed across the pond twice...
Nobody went to jail over that, but all kinds of people lost their ability to sell that kind of watch anymore, and many of them ended up hurt financially because of contracts they signed...and the two agressive sales reps ended up with a lot of watches on their hands that nobody would buy (after making a ton of profits on ones they did sell).
So, bottom line....if you are buying your products in a non-clandestine manner from a regular wholesalers (or even directly from the manufacturer) and you did not initiate a manufacturer copying someone else's design, then you really do not have anything to worry about. If there is anything clandestine about what you are doing, then you might. . -
11-02-2012, 08:15 AMflyingronRe: Can You Make Your Product Look Like One Sold By a Competitor
Gosh darn it, it is copyRIGHT (as in the RIGHT to copy) not copyWRITE (something workers at the newspaper get paid to do).
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11-02-2012, 03:20 PMjkRe: Can You Make Your Product Look Like One Sold By a Competitorthat is not true. It is illegal to sell a copyrighted design (without proper permission), even if it is done without knowledge. Given the fact there are myriad companies in China that have no problem ignoring copyright laws, I would make certain whomever is selling me the product has the right to sell me the product.Quote:
Quoting llworking