Field Notes vs Field Notes Brand… interesting adventures in trademark and copyright land

On March 11th, 2011, I released a new model available at 3DMarvels.com which was a great looking Field Notes model. The design was good and clean (mesh wise) and animation went well. About a week later, the designer was contacted by the “Field Notes” company which owns the brand Field Notes and in a very kind and understanding way, informed him (and me) that we are treading in the dangerous waters of trademarks and copyright infringement. They were very professional about it by the way and patient as the issues sorted themselves out!

Understandably, I sent them an e-mail that I had no idea that Field Notes was a company much less that I had any idea I was infringing on their brand so I told them that I’d re-render the animation – update the product shots and related files so that this issue would be resolved for all involved.

This is why there is now an updated version of the Field Notes design in both COLLada and STL formats. This raises an issue which I see coming into the forefront as 3D printing technology becomes more mainstream. I also removed the animation where I could and updated it on the site and blog mentioning this great design.

How do you police designs?

In the “old days”, you needed a factory, workers, lawyers etc. to set-up a production cycle for new products but with the advent of 3D printing, this is no longer needed. One individual can essentially scan a design into their computer and sell the files or mass-produce them on their own at great profit easily and without associated royalties being given to the original designer. This is one issue, but the bigger one is how do you police intellectual property in the 21st century? Large companies must either hire a bunch of internet researchers sending out a bunch of notices (and keep track of them) at great cost in time and treasure (passed onto the consumer in higher prices) and if only one precedent slips through the cracks… this act of trademark or copyright infringement starts to loose steam should things ever proceed in the justice system.

I think the world is in for a hell of a ride in the coming years… will be interesting to see what comes of it.

Field Notes Holder: 3D Printing Animation 2 (720HD)