Selling modded flashlights.... Legal ?

I am new to this forum and I am sooo happy I found it! It is a great reference and it is nice to know some other modders.

I used to mod some maglites back in 2004 and sold them on Ebay.
I barely covered the expenses but it was a great experience for me. I even had some custom circuit boards made for that purpose!

My question is, is this legal ? If I were to do it again... could I get sued by the flashlight manufacturer ? Any insight about that will be appreciated.

Here's a pic of my LED modded flashlights with 19x 21,000 MCD leds:

These are 3 D-cell maglites. I would like to add that since I have made the first prototype back in 2004 I haven't changed the batteries and I have used it a LOT! Still runs very bright.

Thanks in advance for any replies

Yes, it is legal, and you can sell them here in the BST section of the MarketPlace

Those look nice. Do you know what kind of lumens coming out of the front end and the run time?

As far as legality...yes its legal. There are no statutory laws prohibiting it. The only thing I can think of is if you run a commercial business out of a house, your local community may have some zoning ordinances about that or require some occupational license...but that is very rare in a small cottage business.

As far as getting sued...yes; you can get sued but its very...very unlikely...unless you set up a major operation and somehow made yourself look like some official Maglite OEM approved affiliate. Big companies with trademmarks are very touchy how their trademarks are used or represented.

The fact is anyone can sue anyone...whether the courts will sustain the claims, and whether a jury will find for the plaintiff, is a whole different issue. Our Constitution gives the right of a citizen to sue another. The only real concern I would have is product safety. If your modification leads to a fire because of a battery short circuit or some other unforseen problem, you could get sued for that. Especially modifications involving Li-ion battery packs. If your product burns down someone's car or house...their insurance company may come after you even if your customer doesn't go after you for selling a defective product.

But don't let me discouarge you...I tend to ramble.

You taking orders?
I'd like a Red or Blue 2D full of Nichia CS/DS's!
I'd prefer DS if you could get them.
I like the idea of long runtime on a set of simple primaries!
What do you think, can I be your first customer.

If you bought the lights legally the producers and the owners of the IP all got their money at that time, so you're square with them. If you alter the product you shouldn't have any problem selling it as long as you disclose the product's origin. On the other hand, if you claim that you made a M/\G light yourself from scratch, they probably won't like that.

Otherwise its yours to do with what you like -- you bought it and they got their money.

I'm assuming that when you bought the lights you didn't sign a contract promising that you would not alter and re-sell them.

:welcome: Alex.

I see people selling Mag mods adding a disclaimer stating that they're in no way related, endorsed, by Mag, the mod voids the warranty, yada-yada-yada...

Three years and still going strong, heh? That sounds like a killer emergency light!

haha, imagine the trouble we would be in if it wernt....

Crenshaw

Welcome to CPF Alex. I really like those. It would probably be considered old tech by the establishment but I really like those a bunch. They remind me of my first multi-LED light, the Tektite 1900. Very nice work. Let us know if you're selling them ok....

I think I bought one of your modules on eBay a few years ago...... Love it! We still use it daily in my shop. I would be interested in a few more.

frisco

Why would anybody want to modify a Maglite's performance? :candle:

Wow! I did not expect that much replies!

Thank you all for the information. Glad to know it is legal. I remember that on my ebay page I did put the disclaimer saying I wasn't affiliated in any way with Mag Instruments, yada yada yada.... So I guess I'm clean!

DarkPower: I don't really know how much lumens is coming out on the front. I don't think I have the proper equipment to measure it. Unless you can put me on the right track ???

Sgt. LED: I would gladly take orders ! But first, I don't think a 2D Mag would produce enough juice for all those leds. If I remember I had to pick the 3D to reach the 4.5 v necessary. I understand an extra cell is bulkier, but it will give you much more power and longevity. The shock test is conclusive, since I have carried the MagLite in the driver's door compartment of my car for years. Still works very fine. Tell me if you are still interested.
I will setup a tread in the marketplace soon. Will propably sell modded Maglites and APEX headlamps...

Secondly, there is an improvement i'd like to make on it. So far the module itself doesn't fit inside the old bulb socket. I had to dremel into the socket and solder the two wires directly on the tabs of the socket. That meant disassembling the whole thing. No very productive...
Does anyone know of a source where I can get fittings that would sit in the old bulb socket and lock in place like the bulb does ?

Frisco: if you bought "modules" then they weren't from me. I used to sell the whole flashlight. But I someone can answer my previous question about bulb socket fittings, I would gladly take your orders !

I am glad I joined this community!

Thanks!

Alex

I've heard it is legal, but part of me isn't so sure.

While I'm sure the guys here are very bright(HA! pun totally intended), I'd get actual legal advice or at least documentation of some sort saying it is legal.


A guy on another forum I visited a few years ago was arrested and sued by Microsoft for selling modded X-Box's.


While X-Box's aren't flashlights, I'd still be apprehensive.

edit- Alex, if you get to selling these again, how much(roughly, I know you may not have all costs stamped out yet) would you be selling these for?

Alexcamp said:

Here's a pic of my LED modded flashlights with 19x 21,000 MCD leds:

Click to expand...

oh one of those days, where flashlights look like a shower head

Capt America said:

I've heard it is legal, but part of me isn't so sure.

While I'm sure the guys here are very bright(HA! pun totally intended), I'd get actual legal advice or at least documentation of some sort saying it is legal.


A guy on another forum I visited a few years ago was arrested and sued by Microsoft for selling modded X-Box's.


While X-Box's aren't flashlights, I'd still be apprehensive.

edit- Alex, if you get to selling these again, how much(roughly, I know you may not have all costs stamped out yet) would you be selling these for?

Click to expand...

Its legal. The guy with the XBox may have been duplicating software or firmware, which is illegal because it comes under criminal copyright laws. It all comes under the broad topic of "Intellectual property law". Roughly it goes like this:

Copyright infringement = criminal or civil
Trademark infringement = criminal or civil
Patent infringement = civil only

With the exception of previously noted examples I don't think there's really much of an issue here. Does anyone think it would be illegal to sell your car after you put higher performance tires on it? Heck, it's probably hard to find a used car that hasn't been altered from stock in some way or another. What about an old computer? Would it be illegal to sell if you installed a DVD drive in it? Would it be illegal to sell your knife after you sharpened it? I think not.

Welcome to CPF, Alex!

Larry

I say +1 on selling some more of those lights!

Why not just sidestep the issue completely and just sell the mod as a dropin? I bet you'd sell a lot more of them than completed lights! Well, at least here you would.

Patriot36 said:

Welcome to CPF Alex. I really like those. It would probably be considered old tech by the establishment but I really like those a bunch. They remind me of my first multi-LED light, the Tektite 1900. Very nice work. Let us know if you're selling them ok....

Click to expand...

Shower head lights still have a place. For a nice even pool of light, they're just about unbeatable. Throw is great, but sometimes flood is more useful.

MikeLip said:

Shower head lights still have a place. For a nice even pool of light, they're just about unbeatable. Throw is great, but sometimes flood is more useful.

Click to expand...

+1

Those pointy spots are over rated and seem to be the nature of the newer emitters. Lighting broader areas with a more even illumination is much more useful.

frisco