Ownership question

[Nostromo]

I’ve seen clothing with all sorts of official tags, permits and the like used on them, how would a company use these unless they were the preferred provider of the state or local municipality that created them unless they were altered to constitute a new and original work?

What if one wanted to use a license plate and specific wording on clothing? The state owns the specific tag (either in or out of circulation) does one have to change it so it does not look like a copy?

Lastly, if one wanted to use a design and modify it so as not be in conflict with ownership is there a test for how different one item has to be from the other? After all there are common icons and text fonts that one could argue are in the public domain?

Thanks

[ckarg]

Its a judgement call. If "you're using someone else's design", then you really should get permission, or clarify in whatever other way that what you're doing is OK. If "you're creating your own design", and it just happens to look similar to someone else's then its yours to do with what you want.

If you're challenged on how original your design is, it obviously helps it if can be distinguished from other (earlier) designs.

For a license plate, you can change the color (a bit), change the font (a bit), change the graphics (a bit), change the exterior dimensions (a bit). The result will still look very much like a license plate, but it won't be a carbon copy.

[Nostromo]

good idea, thanks.