Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

hi all,

i am new here. i have started a small product development & manufacture 
company and i have an important IP question.

my main product line features horticultural goods for sale to home 
gardeners. two of the items that i wish to sell are substrates used for 
rooting plants. both are existing trademarked products with somewhat 
different original intended applications: one is used as a soil amendment 
on athletic fields. i had planned to repackage them in smaller bags, then 
rebrand as my product line. the other company`s brand won`t appear 
anywhere on the packaging and i will not be altering the materials in any other way.

does this sound OK? do I need any kind of licensing agreement with the 
other company`s? i already asked my attorney, who was of the opinion that this is legal. what do you think?

thanks,

-puchisapo

Puchisapo,

I founded http://startgardening.com several years ago during my MBA program doing essentially just what you are saying, we repackaged a hydroponic product and used it to grown garden plots right over your existing lawn (no work!) - I sold the company 4-5 years ago.  But I`m happy to share my experiences there with you.  In fact, I think my personal story is on the Web page still.

I had no IP issues - in fact I partnered with the original manufacturer and had a great program going with several large orders and many small boutique shops selling them as well as online.  I even went after my own IP with a kit patent to prevent others from doing what I was doing (basically packaging seeds and fertilizer with a growth medium).

What happened after I sold it is another story altogether.

Of course, please don`t forget that I`m not a lawyer.

Feel free to PM me with any specific questions, looks like you`re following quite a parallel path.

thanks! it sounds as though my situation is somewhat different in that i wasn`t planning on entering any kind of negotiation with the third party manufacturer. in fact, i would rather avoid it because i have arrangements with several other manufacturers already. 

Have the lawyer put the opinion in writing and explain the opinion. By analogy, I’m not so sure you can buy a pair of LEVI brand jeans, tear off the tag, sew on your own tag, resell the “new” jeans, and be immune from trademark infringement.  Hire [read "pay"] somebody that knows trademark law.

 

-------------------------

James Lindon, Ph.D. Patent Attorney
Lindon & Lindon, LLC
Cleveland, Ohio
Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights, Pharmacy Law, Litigation
[this is not legal advice - provided for discussion only]
Intellectual Property for the Individual and Small Business: Identify, Protect, Enforce, Defend.
"Fools rush in where angels fear to tread."
http://www.LindonLaw.com

yep, i am now planning to just approach the other company. there is also a question of a MSDS associated with their product, which i will also probably have to provide. thanks very much for the feedback.