Copy vs Original

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Smitty37

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I'm not speaking of blanks here that has been talked to death many times.

I am thinking it terms of Pen Kits - What separates a "copy" from an "original"?

In fact, what is a original? Does it require that everything be entirely new design?

Does one have an original if they take all of the internal parts from a kit and give it new externals? Or, is that a "copy"?
 
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I wonder if that would make comforts, streamlines, trimlines etc. all copies of the slimline? They are similar typically with some interchangeable parts.
 
This is a question that goes before judges and juries all the time. Sometimes a small change is enough to make an original and sometimes any similarity(sp) constitutes a copy, and then we have everything in between. If your question is, do I look at similar kits as copies? Sometimes yes and sometimes no, it really depends to me on the value added or decreased by the change. Not value in terms of money though. Hope this clears everything up. :)
Curt
 
CREID said:
This is a question that goes before judges and juries all the time. Sometimes a small change is enough to make an original and sometimes any similarity(sp) constitutes a copy, and then we have everything in between. If your question is, do I look at similar kits as copies? Sometimes yes and sometimes no, it really depends to me on the value added or decreased by the change. Not value in terms of money though. Hope this clears everything up. :)
Curt
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Clear as mud Curt.:biggrin:
 
If I coppied something it would not even look close. No mater how hard I tried. May be it would look like a copy of something else, hummmmm
 
Smitty37 said:
I'm not speaking of blanks here that has been talked to death many times.

I am thinking it terms of Pen Kits - What separates a "copy" from an "original"?

In fact, what is a original? Does it require that everything be entirely new design?

Does one have an original if they take all of the internal parts from a kit and give it new externals? Or, is that a "copy"?
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Maybe what I really wonder is if there are any kits out there that are not "copies" in some respects?
 
Smitty37 said:
Maybe what I really wonder is if there are any kits out there that are not "copies" in some respects?
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This is an interesting question. I think that MOST kits have some variation of "new" and some "copy".

I think like most other things there is a spectrum.... Take the sierra for example:
* Some "sierras" are pretty much exact copies of the "original or first" sierra (from berea from what I understand).
* some sierras are a bit more original (replaced the plastic with metal, etc)
* some pens are a lot like sierras but have changed something else (textured rings, finial twist, etc).

So is everything a copy? To an extent I'd say yes. But to say that there is NOTHING new isn't true either. I'd call it more of a evolutionary process, much like the growth process of pen making as a whole.
 
It is pretty well an established fact that the slimline was the original PEN. At about the same time, there were pencils available as the original "kits".

So, if we accept the functional definition, all writing instruments were copies of these "originals". The Imperial is just another pen.

On the other hand, if every detail creates a new "design" (read larger centerband makes a slimline a comfort--and a completely different pen), then every new wrinkle will be defended by the person who designed it as "innovative" and decried by the person who made the original as an "obvious copy".

Point is, who cares?

If the original manufacturer truly "cares", he has the right to sue and MAY prevail He will then have to prove damages that are sufficient to pay the legal fees he amassed. And, if he drives his competitor out of business, he will never collect those damages. This is the reason, I believe, none of the manufacturers are suing each other. In an article I read, recently, they claimed the cost of one case defending a patent or copyright should be estimated at $3 million. That's a heck of a lot of penkits!!

FWIW
 
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True enough...but I think Cross could make a pretty strong case that the original slimline was copied from their slim all metal pens.

I think I am now convinced that all pen kits are copies of something. Some very likely actually copied other pen kits and some probably copied Parker or Waterman or other popular pens of an earlier (pre-kit) era.
 
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