Re: [RC] Patent law- if it isn't your idea - Truman Prevatt
He may be he copyrighted the name "bitless bridle." A copyright is
easier to get (and easier to lose) than a trademark. A trademark
requires more legal time and is more expensive. Whatever the case he
may or may not have a valid claim. Even if he expect he has a vaild
claim to the term "bitless bridle," he has no valid claim to the
concept of a bridle without a bit.
If he has a trademark it is registered with the US Government and can
be checked. Trademarks and patents are expensive to obtain. They
require a lot of time of a lawyer in those fields to file a reasonable
application. I suspect it would cost more to get a trademark on
"bitless bridle" or a patent on whatever is different about his bridle
than he would ever make on selling the device so it doesn't make much
sense to go that route.
He could be bluffing. Spend a 100 bucks to have a lawyer write him a
letter to see if he has any claim or not. My guess is he doesn't, but
you should find out.
Truman
Mike Sofen wrote:
A product name like "Bitless Bridle" can be
trademarked, not patented. A trademark provides protection from
different companies attempting to sell similar (or different products)
using the same product name, which is a good thing because it reduces
consumer confusion. It is a marketing protection mechanism rather than
a design protection like patents.
If Dr Cook hasn't trademarked the name
"Bitless Bridle" then he cannot even claim ownership of that. I'd be
surprised if that were the case, however.
I have had one of his bitless bridles and I ended up
reselling it b/c it was not working for my horse. I have wondered
though if he can stop others from selling theirs b/c every catalog has
one and they are a little different. I'm thinking that the idea can't
be patented, but the name can be. Of course, i'm not an attorney and
don't KNOW. I'm just thinking about the guy who sells a bridle who says
he's not affiliated with Dr. Cook and Dr. Cook's website had the same
disclaimer about the other guy. Something about Spirit horse.
At 08:43 AM 1/30/04 -0800, you wrote:
I can tell you
from experience (as a patent holder, not an attorney), that legal
challenges to patents are very expensive for both parties. It is
likely that if Dr Cook is insecure at all about the validity of his
patent, he would refrain from taking you to court...he could end up
paying all court costs.
