Hey Guys,

Hoping someone can help me out on the legality side of things when it comes to manufacturing & replicating carbon fiber products for the automotive industry....figured this would be a good forum to start!

I didn't know if in the world of carbon fiber creation, are certain patents on products made?  I know plenty create replicas, but a great deal of these come from China, who avoid plenty of regulations.  I would be looking to manufacture in EU and sell in the US...just want to make sure I do things the right way.

For example, APR comes out with a front lip for a Porsche....can that piece be duplicated for sell to the general public as long as it isn't branded "APR"?  Along the same lines, if Porsche manufacturers a 911....are we then allowed to duplicate say a fender in CF for resell to the general public?

Thanks,

Matt

Strictly speaking, you're not allowed to copy anyone else's design. However you will get away with it for things like copying the Porsche 911 standard fenders, because they are a giant company that are pumping out hundreds of thousands of these things, and they don't specialise in composite parts. Not only are you not costing them any money, but they've simply got better things to do than chase up small companies for low volume production. 

Thanks for the response.

I guess more than anything, is it illegal to replicate say Rocket Bunny fenders?  Seibon, for instance, began their company doing nothing but replicas and once they were large enough to have an R&D team, they began mfg their own products.

I guess if you can legally produce replicas of OEM parts, whats to say you can't legally produce parts from a company like Rocket Bunny?

You can't legally reproduce OEM parts. But you will get away with it because nobody is going to chase you up about it. It's the prerogative of the company to file a law suit against you, but OEM companies won't be fussed by what you're doing.