Bit of advice

[disruptive]

I suspect the company in question got a friendly lawyer to send a strongly worded letter to you in the hope you'd scare easily. I used to deal with this sort of thing a lot, and the letters can get pretty nasty, but as people have pointed out, I doubt they have IP in anything they have done and certainly nothing that is enforceable...and they know that. They are just scared...

If there is NO patent and NO copyright and NO fraudulent activity on your part, then just ignore it.

Oh and lawyers spend their time trying to puff up their legal feathers with nothing to back it up. I've found those with IP [in my experience] disclose immediately that they are rights holders.

You could ignore them or ask for further proof of rights...either way hope the business goes well.

 

[crabfoot]

Y'know, it could be amusing if you came up with an original design and registered it. If they decided to retaliate, you could hit them in the nuts right away.

 

[spondishy]

Interesting debate if nothing else. Anyhow I'm finding it difficult to reconcile in my own head where the line is drawn on a product you assemble at home. Blossom mentioned in a card kit you could have different weights of card for example.

If I go into a supermarket and fancy one of these fajita kits meals I can choose a proper brand or supermarket own. They both contain:

8 fajita's
1 bag seasoning
1 bag salsa

So in essence they both make 8 fajita's. Looks like a copy to me.

 

[Aegean]

I agree with what 'Disruptive' said above and I myself have dealt with vaguely similar situations, however at the end of the day if you are going to claim a copyright or legal hold you have to come up with the pudding and not just words. Thats the law.

They are probably hoping you will scare easy but the fact is that it's very difficult to copyright or have intellectual rights over a box of bits. I'd be very surprised if they did. Cloning an Airfix model may be different but say, a birthday card kit, is pretty vague.

However, rather than worrying, if you are genuinely concerned about this either ask them to produce proof of their copyright so your 'legal advisors' can determine their position, or consult a solicitor/lawyer. Perhaps if they think you are taking legal advice they will leave it be.

 

[disruptive]

I agree with what 'Disruptive' said above and I myself have dealt with vaguely similar situations, however at the end of the day if you are going to claim a copyright or legal hold you have to come up with the pudding and not just words. Thats the law.

They are probably hoping you will scare easy but the fact is that it's very difficult to copyright or have intellectual rights over a box of bits. I'd be very surprised if they did. Cloning an Airfix model may be different but say, a birthday card kit, is pretty vague.

However, rather than worrying, if you are genuinely concerned about this either ask them to produce proof of their copyright so your 'legal advisors' can determine their position, or consult a solicitor/lawyer. Perhaps if they think you are taking legal advice they will leave it be.

Good point A, another thing I used to do, was to say I was passing on my letter to my legal team and that they would get back to you in time if they find any IP conflict. Usually that is enough.

 

[WaftyCrank]

I'd be interested in taking a look at their site and yours.
From what has been said it doesn't sound like they have any form of legal challenge to what you're doing otherwise they would be a monopoly for that form of kit. This is a free market and as such a competitor can spring up at any time.

Can all the contents of the kit be sourced legally in the open market indivudually if an end user wanted to put together a home kit themselves? Are they listing the content of their kits online? It sounds like this information is in the public domain and they're pissed at you coming into their niche.

Take a photocopy of your middle finger extended in the usual bird flipping fashion, ensure the photocopy is over their printed hard copy letter and return it to them

*This post in no way constitutes legal advice lol