Legal Question in Intellectual Property in New York

Re: using other companies apparel

I'm not sure I quite understand your question, but here goes.

You can indeed use a generic bag to put your logo on; bags per se are in the public domain and are freely available to anyone who wants to use them.

Can you take a "bag from another company"... That depends.

Are you talking about physically taking bags that the other company has bought and paid for and defacing their bags by putting your logo on? That's not a good move; totally classless. It creates an impression of your business that you mooch off others; I wouldn't allow any client of mine to create that impression.

Are you talking about taking a cleverly designed bag and having it manufactured with your logo? Well, does the other company have any sort of intellectual property right in the bag, perhaps in the color or the design of the bag? If you would infringe some sort of intellectual property that the other company has in its bag then no, you cannot just lift the bag and put your logo on it. If you would not infringe the other company's IP rights, then go for it.

THE INFORMATION PRESENTED HERE IS GENERAL IN NATURE AND IS NOT INTENDED, NOR SHOULD IT BE CONSTRUED, AS LEGAL ADVICE. FOR SPECIFIC ADVICE ABOUT YOUR PARTICULAR SITUATION, CONSULT YOUR ATTORNEY.