joecool911 Report post Posted October 2, 2015 How do we know if a product we sell or intend to produce and sell is protected by a patent? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mlapaglia Report post Posted October 2, 2015 There are very few patents issued to leather products. Patents are more for processes than the product. Were you perhaps asking about a copyright? That is a totally different can of worms. Short version. A person can copyright a pattern. You buy the pattern and you are prevented from selling the pattern. You are not prevented from selling anything made from the pattern. That is the simple version. EVEN IF THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER SAYS YOU CAN NOT SELL WHAT YOU MAKE FROM THE PATTERN, YOU CAN. The law says you can. If you meant Trademark, that is a third issue. Normally you can not use for personal use or to sell a registered trademark. Example. You can not copy the harley motorcycle trademark on to a piece of leather without permission. Some companys allow personal use, some just look the other way but if you try to sell a trademarked item without permission of the trademark holder you can be sued. If its Disney you will be sued. Harley is good about going after people too. Hope that helped and did not confuse you more. You will see people that say it is ok, they have been doing it for years. It's not ok, they just have not been caught. It is your decision how much you want to follow the laws. I was in charge of trademark enforcement for a large Seattle based company for 10 years. We managed to find just about everyone that was using our trademark illegally. It's your choice. Michael Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
