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There's a difference between design patents and utility patents. Design patents are what stop you from making and selling your own counterfeit Mercedes or BMW,
by nirvana 15y ago
There's a difference between design patents and utility patents.
Design patents are what stop you from making and selling your own counterfeit Mercedes or BMW, for instance.
Neither company pretends to own a patent on the wheel, and Apple isn't claiming ownership of rectangles or rounded corners.
- tikhonj 15y agoNo, trademark laws are what stop you from selling a counterfeit Mercedes or BMW. A design patent would stop you from selling a car that looked vaguely like an existing Mercedes or BMW.
- danilocampos 15y agoThat depends on the counterfeit. In the case of a counterfeit that looks like a BMW and is badged with the BMW logo, sure. Otherwise, it becomes a matter of trade dress, which is equally important – and equally valid. Which, for this example, could be a "BBW," perhaps, with green and black circular emblem and a design resembling a Z4. The test, as I understand it, is whether or not the manufacturer selected a given design specifically to piggyback on the existing goodwill of another brand.
- rdouble 15y agoWhich, for this example, could be a "BBW..." A very interesting episode of "Pimp My Ride."