hammock copy right/ patent confusion?

[Armor Like Fire]

Hey guys I have been thinking on this laitly and been rather confused I will start off saying I don't understand the copyright/patent laws all that well.

Now for a simple example let's tale grand trunk and eno hammocks just their basic gathered end sewn hammocks.
Seems like a good portion of hammocks are all made exactly the same like that. What's to keep one company from sewing another if they are all made the same?

Is this why people use different materals from one hammock company to another? Or custom fabrics for their hammocks ect? Just so they aren't exactly the same?
Thanks for the help guys!

[SilvrSurfr]

I don't think ENO or Grand Trunk or any simple, gathered-end hammock maker has attempted to patent a rectangular piece of cloth. It might cause some chuckles at the patent office.

Hennessy, Warbonnet and Clark are the only hammock makers that come to mind that have patents or patents pending, and that's for features, not the entire hammock.

[Armor Like Fire]

I don't think ENO or Grand Trunk or any simple, gathered-end hammock maker has attempted to patent a rectangular piece of cloth. It might cause some chuckles at the patent office.

Hennessy, Warbonnet and Clark are the only hammock makers that come to mind that have patents or patents pending, and that's for features, not the entire hammock.

So buy features you mean like say the hennessy hammock like the bottom entry, snake skins ect..?

[Armor Like Fire]

What would make one hammock worth getting a patent vs another?

[Boston]

Warbonnet has a patent for the appearance of the ridge runner. My unskilled interpretation is the shape of the bug net, and shape of the side pockets. He also lists the blackbird as patent pending, but its been that way for years.

Hennessy had a patent for the structural Ridgeline, but it was overturned due to prior art being found. He also has a patent for the asymmetric hammock, where tie outs are not symmetrically placed. It also covers his gather method, and many variations based on he basic claims.

Hennessy's patents were very broad, and he used to attempt to enforce them. It's possible many of his claims have been overturned in court, and I havent heard of him bringing suit in a long ime.

[SilvrSurfr]

Warbonnet has a patent for the appearance of the ridge runner.

Web page says patent pending. If he's patent pending on the Warbonnet Blackbird for the last several years, then he definitely didn't get a patent on the Ridgerunner - too new.

[SilvrSurfr]

What would make one hammock worth getting a patent vs another?

It would have to be something unique. I think Clark has a patent on poles that hold up a bugnet.

[Boston]

Web page says patent pending. If he's patent pending on the Warbonnet Blackbird for the last several years, then he definitely didn't get a patent on the Ridgerunner - too new.

You would be mistaken. Issued in 2012.

http://www.google.com/patents/USD672985

I don't know the status of the BB patent, but since nothing has been published I suspect it's held up in research, or it's been rejected and the patent pending on the site is out of date, as it is on the RR.

[SilvrSurfr]

You would be mistaken. Issued in 2012.

Then the Warbonnet web page is mistaken in saying "patent pending" if he actually has a patent.

[Armor Like Fire]

It would have to be something unique. I think Clark has a patent on poles that hold up a bugnet.

okay so the pile thing on the Clark hammock has a patent on the pole bug net thing so would that mean no other person could make on the hammocks with poles holding up their bug net? Or can somebody els do it just it has to be made/ work a different way?