Monday, June 30, 2008

No more tag blanket!

I just got 3 tag blankets pulled out of my shop over the weekend. So, I did a little bit research online about the issue. Apperantly, the company call "Taggies" patented the whole thing. Not just the name "taggie", it's about the whole design. Basically no one can make a security blanket with 2 piece of fabric with some ribbons in between. They can not be made for sale, or use. So, if a grandma or mom made one and gave it to their kids, they could be in trouble too. You cannot sell or use such an item. What idiot patent officer gave them such a broad definition? And I think the patent is valid untill 2020! And from what I read, there are lots of people got into trouble and got their eBay store suspended, or sued by Taggies. Any craft store or website offered instructions about how to make a blanket with tags or even a stuffed ball with tags got in trouble as well. And I heard that this thing is not exactly an original design, Fisher Price had a similar design and had that patented in the 70's. So, sounds like this Taggies company did some modification and re-patented it. But no one seems to be able to find a picture of that Fisher Price blanket, we can not be sure about that. And in the forum I read this morning, there are lots of scams around this issue as well. There is a woman, or several of them, goes to the craft or sewing forums or eBay and asks people to make her a blanket, and her description is just like a 'taggie'. And if any nice person did her the favor and made it for her, she will then have your store closed, and demand money, and threaten to take them to court. What a B*! Some people received some badly photocopied letter from some collecting agency or "lawyer" and demanding for money and threaten to ruin their credit history. They had to call fraud offices. What a mess!
And people have been talking about babies got their fingers caught in the tag, cut off the blood supply,and badly injuried. Sounds very dangerous. So one thing for sure, I won't buy anything from Taggies, and I will tell my friends not to buy from them, not only because of the evil monopoly thing, but also the safety issue. I don't want that to happen to any of my friend's babies. Besides, that was just a new thing I wanted to try. It's no big deal to remove them from my shop. My main interest is still my knots anyway. I better check whether the bib or burp cloth or nursing cover are patented as well. I don't want to get in any trouble or mess. My Etsy store is just a fun thing to do, I definitely don't want to mess up my credit history because of it.
So, a friendly warning to any one who reads my blog. If you or your friends make these taggie thing as well, even if just for yourself, BE CAREFUL!

3 comments:

My Posh Pads said...

I'd love to talk to you about the TAGGIE and ETSY incident. I had 12 listings pulled yesterday off ETSY due to some turning me into TAGGIE INc....however I find it interesting that ETSY responded back to me when I question all the other listings on the site....They stated that THEY don't police and the I was singled out by TAGGIE INC...Uhmmm sounds like discremination. OH this is frustrating...if you'd like to talk you can reach me via email www.southernbellesandbow.etsy.com
Would love to hear your take on this as it sounds like you are a victim as well.
~Faith

KT said...

Can you make a riboon blanket or will taggie go after these as well? Crafters are always reventing things made of fabric and many ideas are never new! I don't want to seek any trouble but this is a very wide scope af action for a company that is tremendously profitable and crafters could never match that amount of production.
KT

Unknown said...

Did anything ever come of this? I am being targeted on etsy now.. years later?