If i have a product idea can i use a similar product ideals legally and how?
for example if my invention idea (I) but there is a company (C) who bears and owns that product...like if i have a product that is related to Nascar and i want to make a Race Car that is associated with Nascar (like a model car of Jeff Gordons Car), is there a way i could create my product without dealing with Copyright or Trademark Issues, or do i need to give (C) a royalty of some kind to be able to sell my (I).
Attorney answers (2)
Pamela Koslyn
Reputation Level 20
Answered over 2 years ago.
Business Attorney in Los Angeles, CA.
No, you can't use other people's property without "dealing with copyright of trademark issues." If you want the legal right to make a "derivative" work based on someone's copyrighted work, you'd have to ask for and get a license from the owner. Same for a trademarked product, like a model of Jeff Gordon's Nascar car, you'd need a license from the trademark owner to create any new products.
You're very unlikely to get these licenses, so you're better off inventing something original, so then you won't have to deal with issues about other people's property.
Disclaimer: Please note that this answer does not constitute legal advice, and should not be relied on, since each state has different laws, each situation is fact specific, and it is impossible to evaluate a legal problem without a comprehensive consultation and review of all the facts and documents at issue. This answer does not create an attorney-client relationship.
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Daniel Nathan Ballard
Reputation Level 18
Answered over 2 years ago.
Trademark Infringement Attorney in Sacramento, CA.
I think you're asking whether it's lawful to sell a product that is "related" to another product. The answer is maybe. Sometimes it is lawful, sometimes it's not -- depending on whether the original product is protected by patent, trademark, trade dress, or copyright law.
In short, it may be unlawful under patent law to make, use, or sell the original product or its equivalent or sell a product that includes the key (patented) features of the original product. Under trademark law it may be unlawful to use in commerce the name, logo, or tag lines that brand the original product. Under trade dress and/or copyright law it may be unlawful to sell a product that looks like the original product.
Without knowing what the original product is, no one can tell you if it protected under any of those bodies of law -- or whether your "related" product would infringe any one of the intellectual property rights owned by the original product owner.
If the original product is NOT protected under any of those bodies of law (a great many are not) then it is not unlawful -- as a general rule -- to make, use, or sell the product or a "related" product. Be especially careful, however, about not using any of the trademarks that brand the original product.
Before you sell a product that is not protected under intellectual property law, or a product that's "related" to one that is, you NEED to hire an intellectual property attorney to evaluate your business plan.
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