I do not want to get stomped on, but I am fascinated by this pen style. Although I have not yet learned to make my own castings, the watch pen is the style that I am aspiring to. Since I first saw it, one of my goals was to make my own. That being said, I make and
sell pens.
I do not wish to infringe on Copyright, but I do wish to make pens in this style in the future.
In my research into these pens, I found a company that produced a limited edition watch pen a year before Mr. Gross.
Caran d'Ache of Switzerland launches the Limited Edition
"Haute Horlogerie 1010" in October 2007
Here is a link to any article about the launch:
http://home.watchprosite.com/show-forumpost/fi-17/pi-2311946/ti-384306/s-0/
Does this mean he is infinging on copyright. (I don't believe so)
I would never lay claim to coming up with the idea of putting watch parts in a pen, but I would lay claim to my own efforts in creating the one that I am selling. The same goes for the Celtic Knot pens I create, and the Herringbone 360's.
What is copywritten, the pieces that are cast, the name watchpen, the concept of using watch parts or is it the title "Eco-Friendly Pens"
If I took all the parts from an old tiny music box (gears, pins, springs etc) and cast them in resin, it would look the similar.
I do believe that if I was to cast one of these pens and sell it as an "Eco-Friendly Pen" or as a Barry Gross pen then I would be breaking through extremely thin ice.
A good analogy might be found in a painting.
If I painted an oil painting of a young italian girl with long dark hair wearing a black dress and smiling with her lips closed I could easily sell this as my own.
However if I made a copy of the Mona Lisa and sold it as a Divinci, I would be immediately thrown in jail.
This has just been my 2 cents. I am still looking forward to the day when I have the skill to create a work of art like this.