Is "Re-Branding" Legal?

[Anck-Su-Namun]

If clothing store x bought pants in bulk from Divisoria at a really cheap price then re-branded them using their own brand and sold them for, say, thrice the price, would that be legal?

I've seen some well-known stores do this and I was wondering if they're not breaking any (copyright?) laws in the process. Are they?

[Krakista]

Of course it's illegal. But that has been a practice usually by the big name stores as they are the ones who can get away with it. It has been going on for decades.

[KuyaDanny]

It's better to hear from our lawyer-PExers about this, and I'm waiting for their answers, but I would think that:

a) If the pants were unbranded and the store paid a fair price for them, it would be legal

b) If the pants were branded and the store took out the brands and replaced them with their own, it would be illegal.

[tina11]

i know an appliance manufacturer who does this. they buy brandless small appliances (like oven toasters) in bulk and just put their brand on them.

*paw*

[batang uliran]

This is a commonplace practice in many industries - for instance most computer monitors are probably made by only a handful of companies yet they are sold under different brands at different price ranges (i.e. dell monitors are done by sony). In the audio industry which I am more familiar with, this also happens freqently - e.g. Carver used to make 5 channel amps for NAD, ATI made 5 channel amps for Outlaw Audio and others. It is a practice whereby one company (the maker) has an OEM arrangement (Original Equipment Manufacturer) with other companies that re-badge and in some cases, change the casing of the product and sell it as their own.

[green grin]

that's just about accurate, kuyadanny.

[anakin]

i don't think its illegal if you take an unbranded item and place your own brand. i guess it would be if it was a branded item and you changed the tag/label.

batang uliran is right, a lot of companies manufacture products for "namebrand" giants. most of the time, these companies do not even bother to develop their own brand. why gamble your money with advertising and brand promotion when you have sure profits just by selling to a number of these "namebrand" giants.

:anakin: