How to re-bottle a product and sell it as something else?

[Northern Lawn]

does anybody actually know how to do what the OP is asking?

LOL, I told him he really needs to talk to a lawyer NOW, it's a lot cheaper than getting sued. Especially in England where if you lose not only do you pay damages, you also have to pay the other guys lawyer tab.

And btw, I believe it is a soap for washing up. I'm not sure what other use he's thought of but he has given away variations of ideas of a soap called Ecover though he says it has nothing to do with that particular brand of green soap.

 

[KaOTiK]

LOL, I told him he really needs to talk to a lawyer NOW, it's a lot cheaper than getting sued. Especially in England where if you lose not only do you pay damages, you also have to pay the other guys lawyer tab.

And btw, I believe it is a soap for washing up. I'm not sure what other use he's thought of but he has given away variations of ideas of a soap called Ecover though he says it has nothing to do with that particular brand of green soap.

Soap isn't worth using as lube, even if it does clean you up.

 

[elitejp]

Its not possible to buy a blank container, put the product in it, slap a label and make a seal to guarantee freshness? I think its possible.

 

[Northern Lawn]

Soap isn't worth using as lube, even if it does clean you up.

I'm going to quote you to him, LOL!

(he was probably thinking of window cleaning since we're window cleaners)

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

Re-bottle air and sell it as a ghost.

 

[Anonemous]

Re-bottle air and sell it as a ghost.

or Rebottle tap water and sell as bottled water. 🙂

 

[rudeguy]

Wrong in many (most) instances. If OP's friend purchased the product in an authorized sale, he would likely be protected by the exhaustion (first sale) doctrine. Gist of the exhaustion doctrine is that when a purchaser buys a patented product in an authorized sale, the patentee's control over the use and sale of the product is "exhausted" and the purchaser is free to use or resell his purchased copy of the product. Note - this does not mean that the purchaser could make copies of the purchased product . . . he/she can simply resell the purchased product.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exhaustion_doctrine

Note 2 - Manufacturers can limit post purchase resale of a product via contract law. See Quanta v. LG 553 U.S. 617 (2008) and just about every end user license agreement that comes with software.

Note 3: A version of the first sale doctrine also protects a purchaser's ability to resell products that are subject to copyright. But the Kirtsaeng case that is pending before the Supreme Court might change that.

Edit: Just re-read the OP and noticed that the activity is taking place in England. My comments in this thread are based on U.S. law, not English law. I have no idea how the Brits would treat this situation.

<----- Patent Attorney

look...I don't care about your fancy degree.

I watched BOTH Fairly Legal and Suits this week. I know what the F I'm talking about.

 

[davmat787]

or Rebottle tap water and sell as bottled water. 🙂

I am pretty sure that is all Dasani is, in other words Atlanta tap water. Notice it will not be labeled as spring water, but as drinking water. Personally, I can tell a huge difference in taste between Dasani or other bottled drinking waters and something like Arrowhead.

 

[lxskllr]

I am pretty sure that is all Dasani is, in other words Atlanta tap water. Notice it will not be labeled as spring water, but as drinking water. Personally, I can tell a huge difference in taste between Dasani or other bottled drinking waters and something like Arrowhead.

Yup. Not all spring waters are awesome, but when you find a sweet brand, nothing's better. I really dislike Dasani. I get it when I'm at festivals or something, and don't want soda or beer. It doesn't taste bad per se, but it tastes like tap water I paid $1+ for. IOW, it tastes like rip off.

 

[diesbudt]

He would have to make an agreement with the manufacturer and contract them as a supplier.

To be legal this would have to be done.

To infringe in patents the person would have to make the chemical himself, the exact same formula. However he is not. He is purchasing the product from a manufactorer.

However, if he was to relabel and resell it. (Even if he adds a chemical or 2 to change it) He still must make an agreement with them to use their product in a concoction under his own brand name. (However if he made their chemical from scratch and not buy it, he wouldn't need to make an agreement. However this would be against patents w/o a change to the formula)


TLDR

If make their product from scratch - Infringes patent
If repackage their product (not resell but re-brand name it) - Agreement must be made by supplier to allow your use of their chemical in that repackaged/changed formula set.

 

[CZroe]

I am pretty sure that is all Dasani is, in other words Atlanta tap water. Notice it will not be labeled as spring water, but as drinking water. Personally, I can tell a huge difference in taste between Dasani or other bottled drinking waters and something like Arrowhead.

Umm, you do know that Coke owes their success to the "local bottling company" concept, right? Yes, the syrup and marketing largely come from Atlanta but there is not syrup in water. I'm sure they have syrup production in other regions too.

 

[OCGuy]

Its not possible to buy a blank container, put the product in it, slap a label and make a seal to guarantee freshness? I think its possible.

Sure, but in order to recoup all of your costs and make a profit, you will have to charge much more than whatever it is you are re-labeling......

 

[Braznor]

OP, the smaller the brand the better it is for your friend. If it is a no name brand your friend is trying to repurpose, then ask him to apply for a job in that company and he won't need this business. He can even ask them to package it as he wants. Believe me, brand penetration is a big deal, they are not going to introduce a new brand of their chemical just because they found your friend was suckering people with it.

In fact, if the original product was coke and your friend's reproduct is a cleaning solution, then they are going to hate him for it, nothing much else. He can do this openly and they will not do a thing to attract attention to themselves or any connections of your friend's product with their own. :whiste:

 

[Tiamat]

If the company is a global company, they most likely have patent protection in all major countries for their product. Intended Use of a product does not distinguish the product. Thus, if their product is protected by patents, your friend would likely be infringing on it. In other words, patents for products are for the product themselves and covers all possible intended uses of such a product implicitly.

 

[Puppies04]

Is your friend going to turn listerine back into the floor cleaner that it used to be sold as?

 

[pontifex]

i don't see how taking a product. re-badge it as your own would be legal.

now you can buy a case of pepsi and offer $3 per can. but i don't see how you can buy the pepsi put them in a can marked "waggy juice" and get paid.

this

 

[Sho'Nuff]

look...I don't care about your fancy degree.

I watched BOTH Fairly Legal and Suits this week. I know what the F I'm talking about.

My apologies. Carry on. Might I suggest adding Law and Order to your suite of sources on the U.S. legal system? 🙂

And FWIW, Suits is a particularly awful show. At least when it comes to its portrayal of the U.S. legal system. I saw few episodes where the lead characters were allegedly assisting with a patent case, and I almost died laughing because they couldn't even get the terminology right.

 

[surfsatwerk]

my ex-brother in law would go to a farm store buy 50 gallon barrels of chemicals. adds some minor thing and then jacks the price up 20% and makes money.

i hate to think that is legal but meh. i keep wanting him to get nailed.

Your ex-bil cooks meth?

 

[Sho'Nuff]

If the company is a global company, they most likely have patent protection in all major countries for their product. Intended Use of a product does not distinguish the product. Thus, if their product is protected by patents, your friend would likely be infringing on it. In other words, patents for products are for the product themselves and covers all possible intended uses of such a product implicitly.

Companies patent products in countries that are of economic importance to them. Foreign patents are extremely expensive to obtain and maintain. With notable exceptions, it often does not make sense to pursue foreign patent protection without a pretty good economic reason.

The exhaustion doctrine does away with your other point for the reasons I have already explained (at least in the U.S.).

 

[ImpulsE69]

You can do this legally. It happens all the time with things like spices (or grocery store items).

I don't really know the details of how you go about getting permission to do it (It involves paying the actual company money to rebrand their product), but I would start with contacting said company to see if it's even viable.

 

[paperfist]

Seems like a lot of overhead. Purchase product at retail, remove it from it's original container, pour it into a new container, label it, sell it.

Is he trying to re-package WD-40 as an adhesive remover?

What's he going to do when someone has a mishap with his product? Oh you should contact the makers of WD-40 it's the same product!

 

[piasabird]

Maybe he can buy it by the drum. Whether it would be illegal is another matter. It seems like the formula could have a patent or something like that. However, if this is something that has been in use for over 10 years the original company may not have any protection at all. Maybe there are some other companies with similar products that might be willing to just make a similar product that does the same thing. When I worked in the Ammunition industry they often repackaged their own ammunition and put it in another brand box. An example of this might be the Hand Soap indudtry. There are many players in this field now.

 

[nerp]

Not legal. He needs to manufacture his own forumla.

 

[Howard]

Maybe he can buy it by the drum. Whether it would be illegal is another matter. It seems like the formula could have a patent or something like that. However, if this is something that has been in use for over 10 years the original company may not have any protection at all. Maybe there are some other companies with similar products that might be willing to just make a similar product that does the same thing. When I worked in the Ammunition industry they often repackaged their own ammunition and put it in another brand box. An example of this might be the Hand Soap indudtry. There are many players in this field now.

Contract manufacturing is not the same as reselling something as yours that isn't [yours].

 

[BladeVenom]

Just buy it in bulk from a large chemical company, and re-bottle it.

Unless the product has a newly invented chemical, it would be easy to come up with something close enough. Just look up the MSDS, to see what the active ingredients in the product are.