Copy Cating A Product...

[degrom]

Lucky the US don't have the power to read minds yet other wise I would eb screwed for thinking about it and the rest of us would call them "GOD".

Interesting how the Rich get Richer and the poor keep funding them....

[El Dopa]

What are the implications of copying an overseas(USA) product and producing it locally?

I am not sure if there is a pattern on the design but I have seen that there are about 3 companies in the USA that makes it.

Reason I was wondering is because I can produce the same unit in a few months time at almost a third the cost.

Drop me a PM with some details. This is my specialist subject.

Please don't take the advice in this thread as gospel. Some of it's a bit wide of the mark.

MDU has a pretty good grasp of it. But he should, because I've advised him before.......

as far as i got from the man who makes the oxford gear in the uk that as long as their are 3 noticeable differences then you can exactly copy the rest

If it does have a international patent you can copy it but it has to be a minimum of a 10% difference.

copyright is for written or drawn, not products. Everything, this post included has an automatic 50 year copyright but no one worries about it. The song "happy birthday" actually has a filed copyright on it but everyone still uses it.

All wrong, I'm afraid.

Check with IPONZ first

Who will tell you to come and talk to someone like me.

I'm not going to sit on this thread all eveing explaining the law because I do that all day at work, and I'm fucking fed up with it at the moment (need a holiday). But basically:

Copyright in NZ applies to everything and it is automatic. You don't need to register it or apply for it. The duration depends on what the 'thing' is and how it is used. Copyright on a book will last decades. Copyright on a mould used to produce fibreglass bike helmet shells will last no more than 16 years.

A 'registered design' protects the way something LOOKS - shape and configuration. Any purely functional aspects of a product are specifically excluded. The design needs to be applied for, and protection is regional - if a company wants protection in NZ and Australia, they have to apply in BOTH countries SEPARATELY (and Europe, and the US, etc, etc).

A patent protects a concept. If your concept is a revolutionary front suspension system, a patent can protect that product. You could also file a separate application for the method of producing your revolutionary front suspension system, assuming that the process was also revolutionary.

Patents are regional. There is no international PATENT. There is an international patent APPLICATION, which has been referred to. This LAPSES after a certain amount of time, or when regional applications are filed off the back of it. You can't sue anyone with it, or enforce any other rights with it, except your right to file regional applications before it expires (30 months from first filing).

Degrom: A lot of companies won't bother filing patent applications in NZ, because the market isn't big enough to justify the cost. A lot of US companies don't even bother filing outside the US. If this is the case, you can probably copy the product and sell it locally (i.e in NZ) without any problems. But I need details before I commit myself.

Once again, I'm happy to give you some advice if you drop me some details.

[Beemer]

Ah, so you're a patent attorney or similar, El Dopa? I just hope you're not related to the guy who has managed to stuff up my latest application, all for the princely sum of $300 an hour! IPONZ is not my favourite organisation at present...

And don't even get me started on accountants... if mine hadn't told me there was "very little risk" of anyone using the same name as I had so he couldn't see the need to trade mark it, I'd be a lot richer right now!

[degrom]

Ah, so you're a patent attorney or similar, El Dopa? I just hope you're not related to the guy who has managed to stuff up my latest application, all for the princely sum of $300 an hour! IPONZ is not my favourite organisation at present...

And don't even get me started on accountants... if mine hadn't told me there was "very little risk" of anyone using the same name as I had so he couldn't see the need to trade mark it, I'd be a lot richer right now!

Hi mate... Don't kill the messenger... Talk to Miss Helen about your problems.

[El Dopa]

Ah, so you're a patent attorney or similar, El Dopa? I just hope you're not related to the guy who has managed to stuff up my latest application, all for the princely sum of $300 an hour! IPONZ is not my favourite organisation at present

I don't charge $300 p/h.............yet.

So no, not me. I would ask the details, but that would probably be breaking some sort of Jedi code.

[KATWYN]

We have a really good IP attorney.....I don't think we have ever
been charged $300.00 p/h tho?, maybe that is their rate too.

We trust their expertise and their service is fantastic- so we have never complained about the charges.

[Beemer]

I don't charge $300 p/h.............yet.

So no, not me. I would ask the details, but that would probably be breaking some sort of Jedi code.

I got recommended to a firm that someone told me was the best. A senior parner does the initial work then hands it over to an associate - but the hourly rate doesn't reduce! They did a few things wrong so I wrote a well-worded letter of complaint and the upshot is they have wiped the last account sent to me and will do the remainder of the work for free! So they aren't totally bad at this point in time!

[degrom]

I got recommended to a firm that someone told me was the best. A senior parner does the initial work then hands it over to an associate - but the hourly rate doesn't reduce! They did a few things wrong so I wrote a well-worded letter of complaint and the upshot is they have wiped the last account sent to me and will do the remainder of the work for free! So they aren't totally bad at this point in time!

I think they did the right thing.... These day's people like to screw-up and then they don't even face up to the music!!!