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Are there any patents on our favorite discs?
- Thread starter DiscFifty
- Start date
Um...
Double Eagle Member
Might be a good time to take a timeout from the internet. Please, for our sanity.
ILUVSMGS18
Just Another Disc Hoarder
- Joined
- Oct 31, 2014
- Messages
- 2,498
I believe that some names are trademarked as are some of Innova's DX artwork.
tbird888
Salient Disc Test Team
No patents on any specific disc mold. Generally they're for concepts/processes more than individual products. The beveled edged disc. The Thumbtrac. The two piece mold.
That is not what patents are for. Patents cover more or less "ideas".
MVPs fot exmaple covers a lot of cool 2 part molding stuff.:
https://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1="Mvp+disc+sports"&OS=
Brands/logos are generally trademarks. Art type stuff often falls into copywrite law.
Would be curious where a actual disc brand model falls into the legalese...
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biscoe
* Ace Member *
they already make one- it is called a force.
the camera guy
Bogey Member
I have a couple of Aeros from the early 80's that are stamped patent pending. I believe they were covered under this...
https://patents.google.com/patent/US4568297A/en?q=Mvp&q=disc&q=sports&oq=Mvp+disc+sports
https://patents.google.com/patent/US4568297A/en?q=Mvp&q=disc&q=sports&oq=Mvp+disc+sports
I don't think so, a Distroyer would be a parody of a Destroyer so legally fair game.
ChefKoolaid
Birdie Member
I think you missed the long list of specifics which would involve this patent. It is for a specific set of criteria. Not just ' a flying disc'
tbird888
Salient Disc Test Team
I spotted the 1000' hole (15 at the time) at Idlewild for a couple years for the Bluegrass Open. All the big arm pros threw proto Destros. The Discraft cannons threw Forces. They all wound up in a very tight grouping by the signs.
Legacy makes the cannon.
Lol. I know what you meant. But can "cannon" be copyrighted, or does a "disc named cannon" have to be?
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The PDGA approves discs and doesn't (in most cases) duplicate disc names. I think one time a company (maybe Gateway) wanted to call a disc "the Edge" but Innova objected that there was already the E.D.G.E program for teaching disc golf in schools and the PDGA asked the company to change the disc name.
So to answer the basic question, yes a company could reuse an existing disc name from another company. There isn't really anything illegal about it. I don't think the PDGA would approve it, though. Good luck selling a golf disc that is not PDGA approved.
So to answer the basic question, yes a company could reuse an existing disc name from another company. There isn't really anything illegal about it. I don't think the PDGA would approve it, though. Good luck selling a golf disc that is not PDGA approved.
- Joined
- Jul 29, 2009
- Messages
- 15,801
Mold names can be trademarked:
https://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/can-i-trademark-a-common-word--used-as-a-business--592996.html
https://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/can-i-trademark-a-common-word--used-as-a-business--592996.html
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tbird888
Salient Disc Test Team
I imagine so. If Wham-O! can take the Frisbee name and go home, Legacy can try to stop people from referring to people who throw far as having a cannon.
biscoe
* Ace Member *
I would imagine they keep the prototypes they are sent. I doubt that keeps any given manufacturer from "knocking off" another though. The PDGA does its best to steer clear of any sort of legal shenanigans- that sort of thing would need to be sorted out in court.
Read.
There was a story a year or two back about Jeff Homburg bringing a huge collection of tester discs to the PDGA center. I think up to that point, Homburg had them at his house.
