Licensing for Military Products

[Jerome Stanek]

There's a lot of misunderstanding of trademark law...

If you buy a T-shirt and make yourself an iron-on Corvette logo and apply it to your T-shirt, are you committing trademark infringement?
No, because you're doctoring up your own personal property, and thanks to the 1st amendment not even GM can prevent you from doing that.

But suppose you buy a case of T-shirts, and use your iron-ons to create a case full of "Corvette T-shirts" to sell at a swap meet-- That would constitute infringement, because your customers 'may be confused' into believing they're buying an 'actual' GM/Corvette item, and GM licensees DO sell such things.

Now suppose some guy comes to me and requests that I laser a Corvette logo onto his leather cargo cover, which is essentially the same him doing it himself, but I'd make it look nicer-- If I do the job, AM I committing trademark infringement?

I would say yes as you are making money by using a trademark item. You would have to get permission to use it it as it is not yours to use. I went to a copy place to have a copy made for my use and had permission to use it but had to show it before they would make it.

[Mike Null]

I'll say it again: there is no fee for using military logos whether it's a commercial application or not.

[Mark Bolton]

There's a lot of misunderstanding of trademark law...

If you buy a T-shirt and make yourself an iron-on Corvette logo and apply it to your T-shirt, are you committing trademark infringement?
No, because you're doctoring up your own personal property, and thanks to the 1st amendment not even GM can prevent you from doing that.

But suppose you buy a case of T-shirts, and use your iron-ons to create a case full of "Corvette T-shirts" to sell at a swap meet-- That would constitute infringement, because your customers 'may be confused' into believing they're buying an 'actual' GM/Corvette item, and GM licensees DO sell such things.

Now suppose some guy comes to me and requests that I laser a Corvette logo onto his leather cargo cover, which is essentially the same him doing it himself, but I'd make it look nicer-- If I do the job, AM I committing trademark infringement?

If you are profiting from "the corvette/chevy" trademark in any way shape or form, yes, your are infringing.

Mikes comments are dead on and what I have said in response that the government isnt trying to protect_for_profit its insignias. They, and anyone (including every Toby Keith fan on the planet) is happy for anyone bolstering patriotism. But your scenario of lasering a logo on someones work may, or may not, open you up to liability based on customization, what imagery is used for the customization, and so on.

To that end the conversation starts that a customer walks in and wants XYZ item and gives you a thumb drive with a Harley logo. You didnt draw the logo, you didnt supply the logo, you only charged XYZ to burn the customers image file onto the product. It becomes a grey area and for a sheer customer supplied graphic, I could see trying to get around it to an extent. But the simple fact of the matter is you can no reproduce any trademarked/copyrighted content for profit. The mere fact that you charge a dollar amount to burn a blind graphic off a thumb drive your sunk.

The entire conversation changes the instant there is three cents worth of profit involved in the transaction.