Well, currently, nobody is challenging the duplication of any particular
airplane design. I do believe that if you started knocking off Barbie
dolls and called them something else, you would probably get a bit of
"resistance" from Mattel. Same thing can apply to an airplane. Building
something "substantially similar" in design is O.K., up until the time
you try to sell it. The original owner/designer can claim you owe
him/her some royalty. Whether or not you actually have to pay depends on
the courts.

Where this gets weird is when the copycat includes some small change in
some detail and claims the whole thing is now original. If his country's
legal system is nonexistent or sympathetic because the copier is a
national (like in Japan, Russia, or China to name a few), prosecution
will probably not happen. And good luck to an American court going after
the copier. That probably won't happen either because the copier's
country won't cooperate.

P&L attorneys, feel free to weigh in. It has been a while since I looked
into this and the rules may have changed (or I interpreted what I read
back then flat out wrong). Depending on how much energy I have on
Monday, I may actually check this out with my patent and licensing
attorneys. Since I cannot quote chapter and verse from any authoritative
source yet, I will yield that it is entirely likely that I am full o'
"stuff" on this one.

Good Luck,
Mike

First, I think you mean public domain. But second - nobody owns the
design to any airplane. Tony and I used to talk about this widespread
misperception a lot.

Someone can own a type certificate, or a production certificate. They
can own a utility patent if it's genuinely original (like Chuck
Slusarczyk's patent on reduction drives for ultralight aircraft) or a
design patent. But very few airplanes are covered by either design or
utility patents. There is no copyright protection. If you want to
start making perfect copies of a Cessna 172 for sale as lawn
ornimants, you have every legal right to do so. If you try to sell
them as Cessnas, there's trademark protection. Otherwise you're free
to do it.

Now, I don't understand how Cub Crafters is getting away with the
certification issues either. But "design ownership" is not a logical
phrase. Nobody owns an airplane design.

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