Thread: Speed Worms
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Old March 5th, 2007, 06:10 PM posted to rec.outdoors.fishing.bass
John B
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Posts: 243
Default Speed Worms

(Greg*Lumpkin)
What does this mean for someone who wants to start a lure-making
business. If they build up an inventory of lures that look like a brand
name, are they going to get hit with patent infringement lawsuits until
they go under?
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There is a thing called "in the public domain", those things are not
patent enforceable. For example, you and I both carve out custom Mallard
duck decoys, they are both identical to a Mallard duck...either one of
us would have a hard time enforcing a patent on them. We could however
copyright a name "Joe's custom duck decoys"....but the words, custom,
duck, and decoys are considered in the public domain, and I could
copyright, J&M custom duck decoys.

So if you built a lure that imitated a "shad", no problem...you can't
patent the "shad" part. But if your's is manufactured in a unique
original manner, or has some original unique design, those
characteristics would be patentable....enforcement is a whole other ball
game though .

I certainly wouldn't be afraid to manufacture and sell lures that looked
like other companies lures....but I wouldn't incorporate any of their
patentable "uniquely original" features, nor use the unique name they
might use. You can't just patent a "frog", a "fish", or a
"worm"...unless of course you developed a unique hybrid (I believe there
are some (what ever that oriental carp is called) fish that are
patented...not sure).

This is just a layman's opinion based on several personal "infringement"
court battles I have had...and won, I might add . Both were copyright
infringement cases, probably much easier to address than patent claims
though.

JK