Q: I found this patent on your website and have some questions about it.Hair brush tangle teezerPatent number: D825935

I would like to know what exactly this patent means. I see other companies and brands also selling this type of brush.

We want to produce a similar items for promotional use, is this possible?

Thanks you for your response.

1 Lawyer Answer
Peter D. Mlynek
Peter D. Mlynek
Answered
  • Patents Lawyer
  • Moorestown, NJ

A: That is a design patent, not a utility patent. This means that it prevents others from copying exactly that design. But it does not prevent others from making other designs of a hair brush that does the same thing.

Design patents are very narrow, meaning that they protect only that design. Many companies do not consider them very useful because a competitor can can make a change to the design and the competitor won't infringe. They are relatively cheap to get. Although they are not as respected as utility patents, ever since the Apple - Samsung smartphone lawsuits where a jury awarded $500 million for infringement of a design patent, companies are taking another look at design patents.

So you should be able to make similar brushes for promotional use, but you just can't use the same design as in the patent. How different does it have to be from the design? Well, to be sure, you are going to have to get a patent lawyer to take a look at your design and the patent, and give you an opinion that your design is different enough from that patent. But I think it should be possible to make a similar hairbrush without infringing that patent.

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