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Legal or not? replacement car part

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hi

 

i have made a replacement part for a my car and have realised that they may be a market for it. Its not an engine part its for the interior

 

Question: can i reproduce this part or is there some legal/copyright issue that i may encounter?

 

I have not copied the original part but made my own that fits and looks great so it would an unofficial part.

 

any advice or point me to any sites that my help would be appreciated

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I would have thought if it's a one off for your own use there should not be a problem but if you plan to reproduce it to sell on it might be different .

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Question: can i reproduce this part or is there some legal/copyright issue that i may encounter?
Not copyright, however those features of shape/configuration that you reproduced so that your part 'fits' might infringe corresponding features of the original design.

I have not copied the original part but made my own that fits and looks great so it would an unofficial part.
You said you did not copy the original part, however bear in mind that 'copying' does not necessarily mean 'all of the part', it can also be in relation to a portion of the 'part'...so how did you make yours 'fit' if you did not copy relevant portions of the earlier design?

 

Objectively, this can't be discussed in any useful manner without reference to your design, the original design, relevant dates of disclosures plus a whole lot more information.

 

Not to mention, a raft of statutory exceptions specifically based on spare parts exceptions (the "must fit must match" exceptions to design validity) which may well be relevant here.

 

You're better off seeking specialist advice early - especially if you're thinking of exploiting this commercially.

any advice or point me to any sites that my help would be appreciated
Start here ;)

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There are non manufacture parts available for most cars, so there are presumably ways of avoiding infringement (unless they all license, which I seriously doubt).

 

The obvious way is to reverse engineer the part to fit the opening, not to copy the existing part even in reference.

 

Ah - L00b has said that there are specific exemptions that might apply, I guess that covers what I was getting at.

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hi

 

thanks for the replies...

 

as an example, any make of car will have official produced back lights, yet you see companies selling different styles of non-genuine back lights so that people can modify their cars.

 

so this is where i fall into.. i can remove the original part and put my part in its a different shape but still fits and does the same job as the removed part

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so this is where i fall into.. i can remove the original part and put my part in its a different shape but still fits and does the same job as the removed part
Design does not protect what something 'does', only what something 'looks like'.

 

Patents are what protect what something 'does'.

 

So, you'd need to check whether this original part is patented, i.e. is what the original part does covered by patent rights, that would be in addition to any design rights which the OEM may own in how the part looks (designs and patent rights are not mutually exclusive, they are complementary).

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I do know that several years ago the manufactures got together and stopped the aftermarket companies using their logos on such as carpets etc.

 

They make so little on car sales that replacement parts and sundries are a large part of the dealers business and therefore companies are very protective of copyright

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That would have been a trademark infringement, assuming the logos are trademarked, which they probably are (and copyright presumably as well).

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