"John Galban" wrote in message om...

"The FAA has so far sided with Mr. Richmond, approving the Top Cubs
under a regulation that allows anybody to build any civilian aircraft,
as long as it meets the original design. "

Does this mean I could start building and selling Cherokees in my
garage and Piper couldn't stop me??? Apparently so.

There's no enforceable intellectual property on the cub (save maybe the
cub trademark). The certification approval is at the FAA's discretion,
but hey if it's identical to the previously approved design, what justification
is there in declining that CC's cubs are any different than Pipers?

Presumably CC has gotten independent manufacturing authority (Piper's
would come under the type certificate), but that's a lot less effort than
certificating a new design.