Real metal Patent on our trucks

[Ricos54]

I've been talking with this guy that told me that the patent on our truck parts was sold to China a long time ago and that even though Mar-K said it's American it's not. He said China own's the right's and Mar-K would have some type of deal with China in order to make these bed parts. Farther more he said the metal also came from China that it takes a lot to make metal and to stretch into shape of what ever we buy. Whatever the case he say's it's still coming from China.
I'm not wanting to start some heated debate I just want to know if this guy I talk to is right or he is full of it?

Thanks

[flashed]

I would bet GM still holds all rights to sheetmetal and everything else .

[Highsider]

In the title I thought someone mis-typed "patina".

[_Ogre]

gm probably sold the dies for making our trucks to china
but they retained all the patents

[Ricos54]

After talking with Mar-K and another friend of mine what I found out is metal is made in another country like China, but the entire fabrication to make the bedsides are made in the USA. As far as I'm concern I'm American and if I can buy something that at the very least was fabricated here in the U.S. I'm going to buy instead of letting the money go somewhere else.

[1project2many]

Any patents held are likely expired long ago. Dies and tooling get sold off, often when worn beyond usefulness and requiring repair. In '80s China you could buy a "new" 40-ish Packard being made from old tooling.

Interesting patent... look at this drawing:

[dwcsr]

I call BS on that one.

China doesn't need the rights to reproduce panels. Any one can make a panel for any car or truck they want. This has been litigated to death in the last 10 years. What you can't do is make a panel and say its OEM or a Genuine GM replacement part. You need a license to make GM restoration parts.


The patents on our trucks have long since run out, no patent runs 50 60 years. Even if its renewed it still can't go 50 years. They may have purchased the designs for the stamping dies but they usually steal that kind of stuff and wouldn't need to buy it.

The only time you need rights is for a GM certified part or if its still under the patent protection which is usually no more than 10 years.

Steel world wide is mostly controlled by ArcelorMittal with plants all over the world so where it comes from really doesn't matter. It may be dug up as ore in china refined in India then shipped to Yugoslavia for casting into block and then on to some other country for making sheet and on to another for finishing. So where does that piece really come from?

[1project2many]

Agree with DWCSR. This is one of the original patents for a '56 truck filed in 12/55. It carried a term of seven years. If a manufacturer wished to make panels for that truck to sell for profit during that seven year period they would have to ensure they paid license fees or made the panels significantly different (or improved) in some way not readily apparent to the layman. After seven years the patent would expire and anyone could make replacement panels.

[franken]

Interesting stuff. I had no clue the maker patented panels.
That said, I recall buying aftermarket sheetmetal for a 3 year old 88 Toyota. Maybe laws are/were different.

[dwcsr]

I don't know that its a patented on the panel but more a design patent for shape and visual appearance.