Hey,

 

So if I was to buy a bike, lets say a Cannondale. If I was then to get it acid dipped or blasted to remove all paint etc then get it re-sprayed, add a few self made decals and add an electric kit. Could it be sold without any kind of law suit that may come my way?

 

Thx

Best ask Cannondale. If you leave it as is, add the kit and then sell it as long as you don't use Cannondale in your marketing pitch you are fine. You can't sell it as a Cannondale e-bike I am trying to say.

 

"e-bikes by tez", "another quality e-bike conversion by tez" etc. is the way to go. Of course if you use those I will need a 5% cut on every sale

Certainly OK if it's a private sale, and the new stickers don't infringe any copyright or attempt to pass it off as something it's not.

 

I'm no expert on commercial IP, but if you own a physical thing, I would have thought you can do what you like to it, as long as you don't deceive anyone.

 

For example, you could buy 100 Cannondale bikes, paint them and sell on. The only thing Cannondale could do about it is refuse to sell them to you.

Many cars are sold as conversions and retain the name .. why can't it be advertised as a canondale... xxx.. with a Joe blogs ebike conversion.

@ anotherkiwi I thought I'd get a quicker and possibly better answer here

But I guess it would be good to ask manufactures direct.

 

It would be a re-branding of the frame and forks on a small scale for commercial sale. I think if it was a Cannondale I would say so and be up front about it, because they're a trusted brand (right?) but then if I was to use an Ammoco for example I would only say if asked

 

It is something that interests me...so many questions on this now

I think it depends what you do and it's all a bit woolly, but I think the statements below are correct;

• You can buy and then sell an XYZ bike for more than you bought it for.
  

• You can buy an XYZ bike, repaint it and sell it as a repainted XYZ, that's ok.
  

• As above, you can buy an XYZ bike, modify it and sell it as a modified XYZ.
  

• If you buy an XYZ bike, change the manufacturers label to be your 'own', then that's ok if you have a licensing agreement (that's classed as rebranding).
  

• If a bike has patents and associated claims, you can rebrand it as your 'own version' if you remove those patented elements (otherwise that's infringement).
  

• Similarly, if you buy the same parts, assemble it and then stick your 'own' label on it, that's not ok (it's classed as copying/counterfeit).
  

• If you buy the same parts, assemble it and then sell it as an XYZ, that's ok (no different to stripping down a new bike and re-assembling it).
  

A little more info here

Nice one Grey, good info!

Here's a practical example. Cytronex have for years sold various makes and primarily Cannondale bikes with their Tongxin Nano motor based kit. They do use the Cannondale name but don't alter the bikes other than the kit fitting.

 

This web page shows how.

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