Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

You would have to check with the manufacturer.  I would imagine that some products that are manufactured by multiple companies would have very little problem...like cotton balls.  I use cottonballs in crafts and multiple other uses.  Now, if you are taking a specific, like my friend`s patented product, you would be infringing upon the patent and that could be costly. 

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Natalie Berrett
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I`m not an attorney, so take this with a giant grain of salt. It might depend on what this "small toy" is intended for.

For example, items bought in a craft store, although technically copyrighted, are intended to be used in other items, so I doubt there would be a problem there. But items that are intended to be used as-is could pose a problem, even if they are sold in bulk. I`m thinking of something like Legos, which are sold in bulk and individually have no real value - their value is when they are combined with other Legos!

You can`t go wrong by trying to contact the manufacturer. It would be better to find out up front if they have a problem rather than ignoring the situation and getting a cease-and-desist letter a few months down the road (it does happen!).

Good luck!



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Here is an interesting page from a lady who made aprons and things from licensed fabrics ... and won several lawsuits when the manufacturers tried to stop her: http://www.tabberone.com/Trademarks/trademarks.html

You can also look at www.bricklink.com. They resell millions of legos per year (many sellers!) Lego has not bothered them much :-)