Can I purchase a product from the manufacturer and then rename it and repackage it to sell it as my own product?

No, you cannot. It is False Advertising as to the source of the product, and would also likely be considered a violation of California's unfair competition law. What you should is contact the manufacturer about becoming a distributor of its products. You can also inquire whether the manufacturer would consider entering into a co-packer relationship with you, where it agrees to make product for you using your labels.

Honesty and tranparency are often the roads to avoid litigation. I would recommend that you choose a California business development attorney of your choice and work on the appropriate agreements so that you can re-market these products.

By Grace...
Shawn Jackson ESQ. (707) 584-4529
Business Development Attorney EMAIL: [email protected]
www.CaliforniaBusinessDevelopmentAttorneys.com
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You likely need the company's permission. Selling another person's product as your own can be seen as reverse confusion ... causing the consuming public to attribute to you the high qualities of another company's product. This being said, it is really quite common for firms to sell products in bulk to other entities for repackaging and rebranding. In such cases, the manufacturer likely does NOT want to be identified as making the lower priced substitute in order to avoid price erosion of his own product line. I know I have assumed a lot here, but this is the issue in my mind. One other thing is that using another person's product as a part of your own is fine where it is just a component of your product. Thus, you can generally put an O ring you buy in bulk in the water filter you sell under your own name without attribution. Using the 'whole shebang' with new labels, however, is a problem.

All comments on this site are 'in the cloud' and do not form an attorney-client relationship of any kind. Just consider them ideas for discussion. J