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ANSWER: PATENT DISCUSSION
Since it is so cold I’m staying in and started rummaging through things and came across this pin that I’ve had forever. I bought it long before I knew about patents and such. In looking at it today I saw the patent number (2050804) and looked it up. It was granted to Alfred Philippe in 1936. It looks like it should have been a clipmate but there are no actual clips on the two removable pieces and there is no indication that there ever were.  So I thought maybe someone just put these two pieces on the pin mechanism and they aren’t original.  Wrong….they both have the patent number on them too.  We have 2 pieces that can only be worn on this frame, so what’s the purpose of making the pieces unless there were also separate clip mechanisms that were able to slide in the channels in place of the pin mechanism.  Now add to that another patent number that is worn enough that I can’t decide what it really is, but can’t find anything jewelry related using any of the possible combinations I’ve tried. Is this actually a Trifari piece or did Trifari ever grant others the right to use things they invented?
Pat Hamm
"It's definitely not Trifari or a clipmate. It has been discovered over the past several years that another company used the Trifari patent number to make their version of a double clip brooch, I surmise it was after Trifari's patent expired and Trifari stopped making them. For now it is just one of those unknown pieces. It also had another mechanism that you could attach and make it into a hair comb. That's all I can offer to you now. Maybe one day we'll be able to crack the case so to speak." --Robin Deutsch, 01/18/09
"That brings up another question. How long were patents on jewelry granted for?" --Pat Hamm, 01/18/09
"Utility patents were granted for 17 years." --Robin Deutsch, 01/18/09
"The ironic part is in essence it is used like a clipmate where the two dress clips or hair clips slide onto the pin mechanism. I have no idea if Trifari sold them the technology. Trifari only made one clipmate with furclip mechanisms sometime in the 40s I believe and that I think was the last for them." --Robin Deutsch, 01/18/09
"After going thru thouasands of them (patents) to add to the vintage costume jewelry patent site most of the patents run 3 1/2 to 7 years" --Bob Brown, 01/18/09
"That's true for design patents, but utility patents (mechanisms, clipbacks, etc) have a duration of 17 years." --Robin Deutsch, 01/18/09
"One thing to remember about patents: Patents are applied for an issued to protect a specific design or design STYLE. Just because company A owned a patent does not mean company B did not attempt to use the same design either hoping to not get caught and sued or with enough modifications to get away with it. Patents do not mean that company A was the only maker. As Robin points out, they expire and another company can use the design if the patent is not renewed. The rights to a patent can also be sold. Unless company B gets caught (not necessarily automatic) AND company A decides to pursue and prosecute (also not a given), company B can produce near copies at will. It is costly to pursue legal action on a patent,which is what company Bis banking on. Trifari and Coro were pretty good about protecting designs, but even they couldn't catch or go after them all. They were large, successful companies and could afford the legal battles. Not everyone could or cared to. And, likely Trifari and Coro didn't in every case either, only if company B impacted sales. Patents did (and do) not always define the EXACT parameters of a design. There is leeway to alter some elements. Both Trifari and Coro did produce patented designs with slight alterations over the years, as consumer demand dictated. Even knowing a patent date does not determine when a piece was made, as they may have been made for years and years. Or made, then discontinued then brought back again. Evidence of this is all over." --Adrienne Shivers, 01/18/09
"And to add to that bit of confusion, in the case of a company trying to copy something, the basic rule of thumb, is if a design is 15% (now that has to be judged by a judge who is not a creative person) different from the original, it is considered a different design. Another reason you will see so many "similar" pieces out there. That holds true today for copyright law as well. So, patented, trademarked or copyrighted, only went so far in protecting things within certain parameters of likeness. So taking a similar item to court, was not always a prudent course of action." --Sheri Weiss, 01/18/09
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