Retail golf shops sell a number of items displaying team logos and colors for collegiate and professional sports teams. Golf club grips, pewter divot repair tools, tees, tee clips and ball markers are availabe. These items run in retail price from $ 12.95 to $ 1.99 and are sold to the walk in market.

The items are marked in many different ways noting legal or attempts at legal protection. The letters TM, R and C are circled in small font somewhere on the item. I would assume that some of the things are legally trademarked and some are pure knock offs.

All of these items can be used to increase the level of personalization for a custom fishing rod. There are several paths that this could take -

1. The individual who buys the rod can purchase the item and asks to have it placed on the in a specific place by the custom builder.

2. The builder can buy the item at retail or wholesale and place it on the rods prior to the sale of the rod.

3. Is "use" connected to the copywrite protection issue. If an item is marketed for sale as a golf ball marker is use of the item limited to that purpose.

4. Is the original seller of a copywrited item wholly responsible for use penalties?

Does anyone have any knowledge of a similar legal action against anyone? What State and approximate date?

Jesse, there is a mother lode of stuff at Edwin Watts - grips are not the only thing there!

Gon Fishn





Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/24/2007 10:37AM by Bill Stevens.

I'm not a lawyer, but I would think that you're free to use anything that you buy with a logo on it just about any way you like. Let's say you buy officially licensed Whassamatta U stickers -- how are they going to try to tell you you "used" them wrong? There is the issue of using them on something you're selling, but my understanding is that the big no-no in terms of trademark infringement is reproducing an image, not using an officially licensed product in a way different from its stated use. I could be wrong, but I would freely use any officially licensed product I bought at a golf shop (or anywhere else, for that matter), on a custom rod.

Chris makes a good point. For instance, you couldn't legally copy and distribute copies of RodMaker Magazine articles. But, you could buy original issues and sell or distribute all of those that you wanted.

There is a big difference in reproducing trademarked or copyrighted images and logos and placing them on your custom rods, and buying such images and logos from licensed resellers and then using those.

.....................

Hmm If I bought a Prada belt with a logo then slapped the logo onto a oridinary hand bag. I dunno one could say its an attempt to commit fraud.

That is different Henry.that is misrepresentation.The logo was part of an assembly and removed.Not a label that was sold as a label

Freddwhy (Rapt-Ryte)

I don't know BUT if, say, the NFL granted a license to specifically put team logo's on golf markers to a specific company, wouldn't the fact that you have created a NEW product (fishing rod) and used the golf marker in the grip, it would no longer be a golf marker and you were not the person/company that was issued the license???

If I bought 20 copies of Rodmaker magazine, I could resell them, BUT could I remove the back cover and bind them together with another magazine into one product and then sell it as a different item??

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/24/2007 05:00PM by Mike Barkley.

I just posted a related picture.

[www.rodbuilding.org]

I would think that the law would involve some form of damages and added value. I am going to try and get a legal opinion.

Gon Fishn

There is a big difference between applying a purchased logo to a customers custom rod at his request, and applying the same logo to a rod for sale and using the logo to sell the rod. If you purchase an officially licenced sports team decal, That single immage is licenced to you for personal and private use...meaning you can stick it on anything you like, for personal or private use.
If you find yourself taking a lot of requests to build rods with team logos, there are a few safety measures you can take. An officially licenced sports decal will have a serial numbered hologram decal on the backing paper(which ironically costs more to make than the original product LOL!). This should be retained and kept with the customers paperwork as proof of purchase of that individual decal. Filing the hologram stapled the customers work order, bill of materials, copy of reciept etc, will signify that the rod was custom built to order and the decal was added to an already commissioned rod by customer request. Also if possibe, ask the customer to purchase and supply the logo from a sports novelty shop, and get a reciept...more proof of purchase. By the time the logo has been purchased on the retail level, the royalties have already been paid for for use of that single logo by the company who printed it and re-sold it.
If you purchase one of these team logo decals and build a rod using it, and display or advertise the rod for sale usung the logo as a selling feature, that is a different story.
Disclaimer: Im not a lawyer or expert on copyright laws by any stretch of the imagination, and the above info is simply based on what I discovered and was told while recearching this subject a few years ago. It sounds logical to me, but logic isnt always the letter of the law! Do enough research for yourself and consult a copyright specialist to ensure absolute safety.

We had the opportunity to check this out last year.

My son-in-law went to NC State. He had bought a logo he wanted on a rod I was building specifically for him. I checked with the school and they said as long as he purchased the item with the logo (a decal set) and gave it to me to use, I could do so just fine without any restrictions AS LONG AS THE ROD WASN'T SOLD TO ANYONE, INCLUDING HIM!.

I may be slow and old, but I'm not quite dumb enough to charge my own son-in-law for a Christmas rod and have my wife and daughter find out about it.

Uncle Russ
Calico Creek Rods