If something is a utility item, the design cannot be copyrighted, only patented. If the design is not sufficiently new and unique with useful inventions it is not patentable. Then there is zero intellectual property protection. Any features that have artistic merit can have copyright protection. But purely utility = no copyright, possibly patentable. If there is no patent, you are free to copy it. Legally speaking.
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just curious, weren't these imported from England, after the OIC May 1st...?
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Imitation is the greatest form of flattery. "Ethical business" is an oxymoron.
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I see it two ways personally.
Rick and his team put a tremendous amount of effort into coming up with this design and getting it through the RCMP lab for our very limited market. He should be able to reap the rewards of his efforts without having to worry about someone stealing his design and undercutting him with a sub-par product after he's done all the groundwork.
That said, in this given scenario where it was becoming more and more apparent that there was going to be a push to have semi-auto's banned, the more out in the wild the better for our community because Rick couldn't safely scale up his shop to cover the huge influx in orders when the Gov could shut it all down the next day with a ban (which they did).
The reason TSE was able to undercut ATRS with their own design is because the cost of patenting a design intended for such a limited market isnt really economical as I understand it after talking with Rick.
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Agree. There is a noticeable quality difference between the two sets, as well as ATRS uses higher grade aluminium.
At the end of the day though, I kinda wish a bunch of other Canadian manufacturers started making copies as well through a licensing agreement or something. I wish these sets were as common as the 10/22 in this country.