A while ago there was a (rather heated) 'discussion' about this sort of thing in the General subforums with selling a Chinese made copy of a Kershaw External Toggle knife design. The only reason I bring up the design is that it, in particular, looks like something people could easily loose fingers from if the tolerances are inexact.
The jist of those defending the practice of ripping off other peoples' designs was that the trademark or copyright are only valid if those who own them are willing to litigate every instance of a violation. To these defends of the practice, if a company does not want to shell out the money and time to internationally sue then, they believe, the original designers are giving their permission to have all of their designs copied.
