roo

There is common law copyright as well as a trade dress issue. You don't need to have a patent. Hell, for a violation of trade dress you just need to prove that everyone recognizes that design as your product. How hard would it be here? People all know it is a Vertex design. Everyone knows the VIS is knock off. I've been through the whole process before and acted as a consultant to a few companies regarding issues like this. They will be sued, and quite easily. (Their dealers will mostl likely be part of the lawsuit as well...distributing infringing products makes them liable) There are new and more strict laws on this topic popping up all the time...like I said, they will be sued, it's just a matter of time.

Lucky SC

that was an ignorant thing to say
i'm sure roo knows what he is talking about

you bring up a lot of good points roo, and i agree, you can't dodge it for too long. and the people who come up with the original idea are the ones who should be making the money. not knock off companies who are piggy backing off of their success

chanh55

Seems like VIS and many other knockoff companies try to avoid any lawsuits by changing the design slightly ie: the bumper grill being a little higher up than the Vertex bumper. That way they can just say hey it's just a coincident that our bodykits look so alike.

I think this practice has been around forever... from generic brands at your local drug store to cars... I think knockoffs and all that stuff will be around forever no matter how hard we try to stop it.

Lucky SC

ofcourse they will.

suing them will inhibit them though and deter others from entering the business. It'll give them a scare but it won't stop them like you said.

its just like computer software, its getting easier to pirate things on the internet like songs and movies; so microsoft comes out with new OS like Vista that makes it harder to do and makes it like "big brother is watching you" with harder copyright laws. Problem is in about a month people will find a way around it if they haven't already.

sad reality is basically that the thief is finding ways quicker to go about his business then we are able to protect ourselves. Doesn't mean we should give up on fighting them though

thats my 2 cents

LexAnt

iTrader: (2)

The scary part is when knockoff companies try to make the same design fit for another make/model car. For example, we know that VIS copies the Vertex design for their VSpeed lineup. Well lookit now, they adapted it to the honda accord
http://www.visracing.com/catalog/pro...oducts_id=1294

G Star

iTrader: (2)

^I'm sorry to hear Anthony ...now I'm really glad I went Auto Couture.

LexAnt

iTrader: (2)

yea... i'm seriously considering changing my bodykit now, would cheapen my car in my eyes if i ever saw it on another car. hardly found any other kit that i like tho.

chrispy

iTrader: (21)

LOL that's funny.

Boostedhat

Wow, very good insights from Roo and Lucky SC. I must admit, when I started this post I was just trying to let others know of what I thought was a good deal. The companies say that their kits fit well, but even if they didn't why would they tell you. I had to think about this another way though. It seems that we think more about things like Quality and Reputation when it comes to something like wheels. There are some wheels like "ADR Design" that make wheels look like Volk or Work, but they are not authentic.

P.S. the Vertex Soarer/SC is Uber hot.

projekt

hey that accord dont look so bad...looks good!

autoboy

iTrader: (6)

Oo, I can see this heading to >>>>>>>Vertex style for Civic or Integra j/k

Remember Black widow and Buddy club? Hehehe

Turbocoop

I just buy what I can afford and what I think looks good. Im in college and I have no money at all, and Im way to stupid to just leave my car stock so I buy knockoff stuff. Except in the motor where it really counts. Cause if your bumper cracks who gives a damn, if your piston cracks- thats a problem.

vince1128

.....word....

Black_SC

iTrader: (6)

im not in high school.