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Selling designer inspired stuff.
 

Ok so i have these japanese lighters that look exactly like the zippo japanese designs, but they are not zippos. If i list them saying "Japanese lighter" would it be a vero item and be taken down? They are alot cheaper too. Do lighters that look like zippo but not advertised as a zippo cause problems?

you might stay up a long time if the owner doesnt spot it or if they dont take offence....but how long is a piece of string, try it but dont fill your garage with alot of them at one time, try and buy, try and buy if unsure..

lol, loved the parody link in your signature.
Yea i would'nt overstock on the item, but i wont be mentioning zippo anywhere in the listing, but you're right maybe zippo will still have issues with similar designs as their lighters. Well time will tell.

Nothing like testing it out to confirm - hope it works well - just don't mislead the buyer to your best ability.

And make sure you don't write the word Zippo anywhere

There is a LOT To this,,,Trademarks/logos as we Know can be protected by Copyright infringment laws,,,Designs BOTH Artistic and Functional MIGHT be, it depends on a Bunch of factors specific to the Item, it is one of those things where you really do not Know.

I am assumming that Functionally the Lighters are Identical, what about the Design?, does zippo sell something Similar? From what I have read it seems that most Court cases Always seem to revolve around the Question of whether the Item in Question was attempting to decieve potential Buyers into thinking that it was manufactured by the Branded Company. If you Really want to Know try to get a Free Consultation with a Copyright infringment Lawyer I have Done that Myself,(Or Jeffweico)

Sorry, This is the Best I can do,,

Slapped is right. And I don't think that even most attorneys could predict the outcome. It really depends on how similar the item is.

If I were going to sell these, I would NEVER use the term ZIPPO or aything even close to it anywhere in the listing. Whether or not eBay takes it down would depend on whether or not ZIPPO reports it. If they do, I think eBay would cave in a heartbeat. You could try to argue that it is not a ZIPPO, you were NOT claiming it was a ZIPPO, etc. but at the end of the day eBay is not going to fight them on your behalf. So, even though it is not right, it totally depends on whether or not ZIPPO has a problem with them.

Thanks everyone for the replies, No i would never mislead anyone and say they are zippos.
The designs are identical and they do say zippo on the lighters at the bottom but ill fade that part out in the pics so no one sees the logo. I will not show a zippo logo or mention zippo anywhere. Ill go for it and see how it goes. Will keep you guys posted.
Cheers!

Now I can answer you, based on this Additional information that you just provided me in your last post.

If Zippo or an authorized agent for Zippo see the Listing and is a Member of Ebays VERO Program And Decide that you are selling a Counterfeit, yes the WILL Ask Ebay to Remove the Listing and Violate you

I agree. We now know this is not something SIMILAR to a Zippo, it is a counterfeit. I don't know anything about them as far as the VERO program is concerned, but if they find it, I'm guessing they will remove it.

Ok, i also have exact same designs with just a random manufacturers name on it underneath instead of zippo, but the designs are the same as the real zippos.

For that i can even show the logo in the picture. I will not mention zippo in the listing ofcourse because it has nothing to do with the zippos.

Would that be an issue aswell?

You see this is the Type of Item that I was referring to in My First Post,,It Depends, like I Said in the Post,,

I Know of 2 Different Unrelated cases BOTH Invovling Louis Vuitton Handbags,,BOTH Cases the Bags in Question did NOT Have the Famous "LV" Printed all over the Bag like the Real ones, yet, The Courts found in one of those cases Copyright Infringement, yet NOT In the Other, ONLY because in the Second case the bag was offered in 2 Additional colors that the Real ones were NOT Available in, along with the 2 Colors that Louis Vuitton offered the Real bag in

So you see, it depends on a Lot of Factors,, Certainly you have better odds with the Non-Zippo Version

been there bought the t shirt, it was similar packaging and design concept issue, funny thing is they may not take on a shop selling it eg a high st powerhouse but they will take on little old you - ebay do not fight the company, they give you a takedown and that is your chance to stop selling, end of...as I said its down to if they see it and take offence and you dont know that until it happens, you may think it is not identical eg another brand name on it, but they may beg to differ...

oh one other thing, if what we write is out on the web, they may be on the look out, just saying, now you have read our advice shah, maybe you request it gets moved to subs section.

Who do i request it to?

Any of the mods (purple) - GreenBean, Saijin, Aspkin, TGMT squared