Q: I would like to make a handmade cat toy to sell. And I would like to know my design is not against other patent.
It is handmade cat toy wand with wire and some attractive toy at the end.
Thank you in advance,
A:
That is a tough question. You can hire an attorney to give you a good answer, but it will cost you much more money than you could ever make on the toy.
Here is a safer bet: if there is toy that has been around for the past 20 years or longer, then you should be safe from patent infringement charges. I've seen plenty of cat toys like you describe back in the 1990s, so the likelihood of someone suing you is pretty slim.
But, if you see some fancy, high priced cat toy in a pet store, and you say to yourself "Wow, that is pretty neat; I've never seen a cat toy like this; I think that I'll copy it and sell it," then you have a good chances of getting hit by an infringement lawsuit, and you should seek help from a patent attorney before you start producing it.
Good luck in your business venture!
1 user found this answer helpful
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