protecting designs question/maybe ot

So how do, say car designers, protect their designs? this could also be posed in the car accessory aspect, like say, custom bumpers to fit specific cars.

I know anything mechanical can be patented.

Drawings can be copyrighted.

Does the origional drawing cover the car?

here is an example.

chevy designs the new corvette. what is to stop someone from making a car that looks exactly like it legally?


thanks

 

I'm sure there are trademark laws that cover a prooduction piece for a period. After a time, you can make an exact replica, such as the early vettes, cobras and GT40s.

As far as protecting stuff prior to release? Ever see all the camoflage put on the prototypes during track and road testing?

 

copyrights cover ideas or words ***embled as a book but not as indvidual words it would cover the image in a photo but not the subject of the photo. An idea or words or music set to paper or other recording items. Copyrights are enforcable from inception. It would cover an ***ebled idea as in a design but not a indivdual pen stroke or series of strokes. The nike swoosh is an ***embled idea with coloring. A curved line, a small half circle and a larger half cirle with a lower curved line on seperate papers is not a design in itself. The swoosh could be trademarked and/or copyrighted.


Trademarks are for words arranged in a frase or short sentance to convey an idea like "Heart Beat of America" or "Bud" or logos with or without words.

Patents cover hard items or a process like the actual produced bumper you designed or the process that made it unique or improved on a previous process i.e. chroming a bumper was a patented process you could not duplicate that patented and claim it as your own. An improved patented process would be color chroming and if you came up with it you can claim it as your own even thought its chroming.

You must defend any copyright, trademark or patented. No one rips of GM corvette designs because GM would sue the hair off them. if you don't have the cash to defend it you could lose it in a fight.

 

So if I have this right, someone could build say, boyds alumitruck, the zz -top coupe or rip off a jesse james designed bike, and as long as they had enough money to fight whatever came there way, they could m*** produce the ripped off desings?

There has to be some sort of protection from this.

 

It seems to me that if you built a car that took your life savings, and it was REALLY cool, and it became famous, and everyone loved it, but you were broke after building it, then you might come up with a bright idea like selling model cars of it to earn a little money back on your "investment". But so could others, unless you had legally protected your rights to your design. So, I would think that you should patent the design (not copyright or trademark). Probably the best thing to do, even though some folks on this board would disagree that anyone shopuld protect their stuff for business reasons (see the thread concerning Ford's lawsuit against others earning profit from Ford names/designs without paying Ford some money or securing permission).

 

blownolds, i think you might be right. I think patents dont only only apply to new inventions and mechanical things.

according to the patent office

"Design patents may be granted to anyone who invents a new, original, and ornamental design for an article of manufacture"

So would this cover a vehicle design?

I am still not sure.

 

a patend is only as good as the amount of money you have to protect it.
the government will not help you protect your design,the only thing its really good for is adverti*****t,and you have to pay every year to keep the patent active,for 17 years. its a joke,really.
randy

 

So the only way for a designer to protect themself of the product being ripped off would be a lawyer, the proper do***entation for proof of design and alot of money to back court battles?

 

Sadly, that's about it in a nutshell. Best bet is to do***ent EVERYTHING. There are intellectual propert statutes that would be helpful in a legal battle stemming from someone stealing your design, and, again, it would fall back on your do***entation. You'd need proof that your original design preceeded the use by the other party (great proof here would be original designs, draweings or mock-ups, patent, copyright and or trademark applications), and that the design is your intellectual property.
Good news is, that in a well-do***ented situation, the courts may side with you, but then you need to recoup court costs, legal and filing fees...
In an ideal world, someone looking to use your design would apply for licensing from you for use of said design, but sadly, when does that ever happen?

 

Read a book called I think "Cola Wars" to learn much on the subject.
In the early history of cars a group of lawyers patented the car, and all manufacturers paid a royalty for design on each car sold in America! It took Henry Ford and lots of court time to put a stop to that one.

 

super mega thanks flyingpolock

 

So does GMC steal Chevy designs?


















(hehehehe)

 

You might think that if you had all you do***entation with dated stamps and all the history of the design and the patent you would be safe. For the most part you would be. If I wanted to copy your design and you sued me the first thing I would do is try to bust your patent. See if some one somewhere had a similar or close enough design to make yours invalid. make you prove your time line on the design and make you list out and show all the work product. Pick holes in it and show the similarities to joe blows design. Its one of the reasons you spend the money on a patent lawyer not your divorce lawyer or GP lawyer to get your docs in order.

Your sole remedy to stop me is to sue. If I can burn your money up with nonsense requests and ballon your legal fees I win or at least you'll settle with me and I keep on going.

But that happens not very often and I wouldn't let it deter you in developing your work. Remember it costs me money to rip your design and defend my position as well.

 

I agree with the previous replies on the realities of protecting your product. It comes down to how much money you have to enforce the patent.

At my last corporate job, I did have an ornamental design patent for one of my designs. The corporation knew that this patent was only as good as how much muscle it had to enforce it. In many cases, the total profit might not be enough to cover the legal costs of tightly enforcing the patent.

So in this case, and in many others, the approach was to sell as many of the products in the shortest time possible, and not go after the copiers.
The result was the market would be close to saturation. That left the copiers with less possible sales.