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pcmcc
10-11-2011, 11:00 AM
Hello,

First post here, and I have a question. Are there any potential problems with integrating a finished product into my own product design and selling it? I am looking at making permanent rotating display cases. There is a manufacturer that sells bulk rotating turntables at a great price. This is already a finished product; with the intention of displaying goods. I aim to modify the tray and build an enclosure around it. As far as I can tell, the design is not patented, and it would be too expensive for me to justify producing the turntable myself, at least initially. Does anyone forsee any problems with this approach? Should I ask the manufacturer if they have any objections? And if I wanted, could I patent a design using this product as the base? Thank you, I would really appreciate some advice.

vangogh
10-11-2011, 10:19 PM
I'm not a lawyer, but I'm pretty sure you can't use their product as part of your own. You might be able to build on their design for the product and I'll emphasize might to create your own design, but you likely need their permission to use their product as part of your own. I think if you do the company can sue you so it's not worth taking the chance.

However I think you can offer a service where you customize their product into something new. I think that would mean having your customers buy the product and then hiring you to customize each. I don't think you could patent your design since it includes theirs. Again though, I'm not an attorney.

You could contact the company and try to work out a deal, though be prepared for them to say no and possibly run with your idea if they like it. It is possible they might license their product to you.

billbenson
10-12-2011, 12:41 AM
That's what Value Added Resellers (VAR) do? How the contracts work for things like that I don't know.

vangogh
10-12-2011, 01:00 AM
With a value added reseller I would think the original company has set something up to allow you to resell their product. If reselling these turntables could benefit the company you could certainly approach them with the idea of becoming a reseller.

billbenson
10-12-2011, 08:26 PM
Well, take a couple of examples. Someone using a screw from Home Depot to assemble a product is kind of adding value to that screw with no authorization. Same would be true for a large company buying screws in bulk?

Someone buying a computer from Dell, adding their own software so it performs some function is adding value and reselling the product probably without any authorization required.

Now a fire equipment supplier who buys a harness from a manufacturer, modifies it to hold an air bottle and gets it certified to meet the fire protection standards and sells it to fire departments - does he need to get permission from the harness manufacturer?

Do you really need permission to add value to a product and resell it?

Spider
10-13-2011, 12:00 AM
I believe you cannot be stopped from buying something and then selling it again. Once you have bought it, it is yours and you can do what you want with it. There's a whole industry devoted to just that - Wholesalers buy stuff and resell it as their basic business model.

How much of a car do your think the automobile "manufacturers" make? They are assemblers more than they are manufacturers. And so it is, all across industry.

If it bothers you, buy the turntable for resale and make the enclosure as a separate product that sits over it but not attached to it, and sell that as a separate product. Sell both at the same time, just as you might find a Sony amplifier and Harman Kardon speakers sold together, or a bar from one manufacturer and barstools from a other sold as a unit.

Business Attorney
10-13-2011, 12:50 AM
Generally, the answer is that if you lawfully buy a product, you may do with it whatever you like. As Bill pointed out, many products are clearly intended to be incorporated into other products.

There are two possible snags, however. Generally, once a patented product is sold in an authorized first sale, the patent holder's rights with respect to that item are exhausted. The buyer can turn around and resell the product or use it as he likes. Some courts had allowed patent-holders to use patent law to impose post-sale restrictions, but a recent U.S. Supreme Court case firmly rejected that.

However, while a seller cannot use a patent infringement claim to enforce post-sale restrictions on the use of a product, it is possible that the seller could enforce post sale restrictions under contract law. That would require a contract that is enforceable under state law. I think that if the manufacturer tried to impose restrictions via a label on the box on a consumer product, the manufacturer would have a tough time convincing state courts that the notice created an enforceable contract.

In any event, I doubt that the manufacturer of the turntable has attempted to create such a contract, so the question is probably not even relevant to you.

The second snag is trademark law. You cannot sell the new product in a way that creates confusion as to the origin of the goods. For example, let's say I produce first aid kits. I design and manufacture a red bag and fill it with various branded products such as aspirin, antibacterial ointment, bandages, etc... There is a very good chance that using the trademarks of the branded products on the packaging would infringe on the owners' marks. In fact, packaging the contents in a manner that the trademarks on the products themselves are clearly visible may even be trademark infringement. For example, if my kit clearly displayed Band-Aid ® brand products, a consumer might mistakenly believe that Johnson & Johnson was the source of the entire kit.

So, with those caveats in mind, you can probably incorporate the turntable in another product. However, it would be wise to run the final concept, with all of the relevant facts, by an intellectual property attorney.

pcmcc
10-13-2011, 01:56 PM
Thank you all for the responses; they were very helpful.