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Problems with Patents

I've designed a new fly. Can I get a patent for it, or how do I go about getting the pattern produced for fly-fishing shops?

Q: I’ve designed a new fly. Can I get a patent for it, or how do I go about getting the pattern produced for fly-fishing shops?

Trent Gaffney
Boston

A: So far as I know, only one fly was ever given a patent – that was Jim Teeny’s Teeny Nymph. Almost all flies are not truly new but rather adaptations and/or combinations of other flies.

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It is also rather expensive to have a patent search conducted and then follow through to receive a patent. You can copyright a fly – but that only prevents others from using the same name. They can produce the identical fly with another name. Your best bet is to submit it to one of the companies that commercially produce flies; they’ll give you a royalty on sales of your pattern.

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