Is It Illegal to Sell Product Looking the Same As Someone Else's

[sunlaylite]

Hello,
I am wondering if someone else is selling cellphone cover and im selling cellphone cover, but we both have the same design style on the case.
For example let say this wholesale company owns this cellphone design style first, then i start selling this cellphone design style afterwards but I'm not getting it from this wholesaler instead I get it from someone else at an better rate, but the case is generic, meaning nowhere in the cellphone cover represents that company brand in his or my product, althought they're an wholesale company & I am 99% they're registered. They also do have their company tagged into the package that came into their product, but since I'm getting from my own supplier im also tagging my logo in my package. So our only similarity is the fact that the design style is made exactly the same, including its material i believe as it feels the same for both, what made me thinking it was legal is because there are no brand logo on the cellphone cover anywhere itself. Just double confirming here that it's legal so i don't deal with getting sued or anything like that. We're both located in the United States, so us laws.

http://m5.paperblog.com/i/10/104608/cool-cell-phone-cases-L-uRqbv4.jpeg

 

[quincy]

You are both selling the same floral-designed cell phone cover?

The design is probably copyrighted. One company could possibly be selling a knock-off of the other. It is also possible, if both of you are getting your product from companies licensed to sell the design, that there is no problem.

It is tough to tell exactly what the situation is from what you have posted here. You may wish to have an attorney in your area review the matter.

 

[sunlaylite]

You are both selling the same floral-designed cell phone cover?

The design is probably copyrighted. One company could possibly be selling a knock-off of the other. It is also possible, if both of you are getting your product from companies licensed to sell the design, that there is no problem.

It is tough to tell exactly what the situation is from what you have posted here. You may wish to have an attorney in your area review the matter.

Hello,
Thanks for the reply. Well i am at 99% they're getting it from out of the country which is exactly where we're getting it from. We get it from people that actually makes the product, so pretty much the main supplier, and we're sure they do also as they're much of an big seller then us. So problem is that they started off with that design style first, i just recently took the idea of that design because it was an hot selling style, and only reason i took the idea is because they're selling generic products meaning cheap product under no brand tagged to the item, which is also how our are also. These product that we're both selling are not no outterbox branded cases or anything like that, its just an generic good looking design style case that can sell. Althought I do know that many many people buy from these wholsalers, and resale them back out, which they allowed that but that's because they purchase from these wholesaler to begin with, but I didn't i found someone out of the country who can make it which of course is better rate then getting it from these guy as im sure that's where these guy get it from out of the country too because its not too possible to get it from the USA for a good rate. So yeah my main concern is the idea of the design style that we're both using.

 

[LdiJ]

Hello,
Thanks for the reply. Well i am at 99% they're getting it from out of the country which is exactly where we're getting it from. We get it from people that actually makes the product, so pretty much the main supplier, and we're sure they do also as they're much of an big seller then us. So problem is that they started off with that design style first, i just recently took the idea of that design because it was an hot selling style, and only reason i took the idea is because they're selling generic products meaning cheap product under no brand tagged to the item, which is also how our are also. These product that we're both selling are not no outterbox branded cases or anything like that, its just an generic good looking design style case that can sell. Althought I do know that many many people buy from these wholsalers, and resale them back out, which they allowed that but that's because they purchase from these wholesaler to begin with, but I didn't i found someone out of the country who can make it which of course is better rate then getting it from these guy as im sure that's where these guy get it from out of the country too because its not too possible to get it from the USA for a good rate. So yeah my main concern is the idea of the design style that we're both using.

OK...lets break this down a little.

Company A designs a cell phone cover and then contracts with a company in China to produce that cover. That might very well be a copywrited or patented (depending on the situation) design. In that scenario if you were to then contract with a different company in China to produce a similar product, you could be in violation of copywrite/design laws and have problems.

However, in a different Scenario where the company in China designs the product, and then markets it to US companies, You would be perfectly safe. The wholesaler you purchase from might have a problem if they contractually are only supposed to sell in a certain region of the US, or even the company in China could be in violation of contracts between them and the wholesaler, but YOU would not have a problem.

There are huge amounts of products that are sold by everyone, everywhere. There are much smaller numbers of products that have any copywrite or patent design, and most of those products involve either very specific kinds of designs or technology. As long as you are purchasing your cell phone covers from a normal company, without any clandestine efforts, its highly unlikely that you would have any problem...somebody else might, but you won't.

Here is a real life example. Once upon a time there was a brand of watch that was really popular because of its design. It was manufactured in Europe and the amounts provided to wholesalers and retailers in Europe were limited in order to keep interest high. One of those, everybody wants one, but not only are they expensive but they are hard to find, kind of deals.

However, those restrictions did not apply to the US, the wholesalers and retailers in the US could buy as many as they wanted. So, a very aggressive sales rep in Europe made a deal with an equally aggressive sales rep in the US, and suddenly, all kinds of these watches were available in a specific country in Europe...with an added markup for having sailed across the pond twice...

Nobody went to jail over that, but all kinds of people lost their ability to sell that kind of watch anymore, and many of them ended up hurt financially because of contracts they signed...and the two agressive sales reps ended up with a lot of watches on their hands that nobody would buy (after making a ton of profits on ones they did sell).

So, bottom line....if you are buying your products in a non-clandestine manner from a regular wholesalers (or even directly from the manufacturer) and you did not initiate a manufacturer copying someone else's design, then you really do not have anything to worry about. If there is anything clandestine about what you are doing, then you might.