Legal Question in Intellectual Property in New York

Re: copyright infringement

Your question actually goes more to patent infringement than to copyright, and the answer lies in whether Kenwood currently holds a valid patent on the radio.

Patents in the USA, which protect invention, give the owner the exclusive right to prevent others from making, using, selling, distributing or importing the patented invention in the USA during the term of the patent. Depending on when the patent was issued, that term is either 17 years from the date of issuance of a patent or 20 years from the date of filing of the application for the patent, plus any time that the patent application was held up in the Patent Office. Patents cannot be renewed.

In the US, if imported goods are found to infringe a valid patent, the infringer can be liable to the patent's owner for lost sales, lost profits, damages, destruction or delivery of the infringing goods, and, in extreme cases, _treble_ damages plus the patent owner's attorneys' fees and court costs.

I would hire a patent search firm to do thorough research as to the state of any patent that may exist on the Kenwood device before importing and attempting to sell something that even approximates it. The price of a patent search and opinion is FAR less than the price of a patent infringement lawsuit. My firm regularly handles patent searches such as this one; feel free to contact me directly if you would like to use our services.

Whether a device has already been copied or not is actually not your concern. Your concern is whether YOU would infringe on a valid patent.

THE INFORMATION PRESENTED HERE IS GENERAL IN NATURE AND IS NOT INTENDED, NOR SHOULD IT BE CONSTRUED, AS LEGAL ADVICE. THIS POSTING DOES NOT CREATE ANY ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN US. FOR SPECIFIC ADVICE ABOUT YOUR PARTICULAR SITUATION, CONSULT YOUR ATTORNEY.