Flying Leathernecks Decals Now Owned by USMC Insignia LLC - October 24 2023

[Dave Roof]

As of 1130 today, Flying Leathernecks Decals is now owned by USMC Insignia LLC and are officially licensed products.

 

All of our decal sheets will be uploaded to their site over the next 24 hours, with the first one being here :

 

https://military-and-le-patches.myshopify.com/products/leatherneck-legacy-hornets-large-aircraft-decal-sheet?_pos=1&_sid=7b731f1bf&_ss=r

 

https://military-and-le-patches.myshopify.com/

Edited October 24, 2023 by Dave Roof

[habu2]

Bummer. Is the trademark infringement based on the USMC aircraft markings on the sheet? or the USMC logo embedded in your FL logo printed on the sheets?

 

Worded another way, can you sell decal sheets with a new, revised FL logo?

 

.

 

Edited October 24, 2023 by habu2

[Dave Roof]

18 minutes ago, habu2 said:

Bummer. Is the trademark infringement based on the USMC aircraft markings on the sheet? or the USMC logo embedded in your FL logo printed on the sheets?

 

Worded another way, can you sell decal sheets with a new, revised FL logo?

 

.

 

 

All of the above. The logo, and the markings (MARINES, squadron designations, squadron logos, squadron names, etc. are all trademarked.) However, once a deal is agreed to with the company that holds the license, none of that will have to change.

 

Unfortunately, as a sole proprietor, I do too much to qualify for a Hobbyist License and not enough to qualify for a Business License, and there is no in between. While my effort may be in vain and fail, I have a friend that is a current CO and he's going to put me in touch with the Office of Counsel for the Commandant tomorrow. That office overseas the trademark and licensing section and the hope is to have them consider reestablishing the small business license that was ended around 2018. 

[Dave Roof]

5 minutes ago, BustedJaw said:

So now the USMC is a profit center for the DoD and the Federal Government?

 

Technically, trademark licenses are required by all service branches. The law went into effect in 2004 and the USMC officially stood up it's T&L office in 2009. 

[Dave Roof]

As of 1800 today, all Flying Leathernecks Decals are no longer on our site. All can be found here:

 

https://military-and-le-patches.myshopify.com/search?q=decals

 

While USMC Insignia LLC is located in Corpus Christi, Texas, all FLD stock will remain here in Georgia and orders placed through the new site will be fulfilled from here. 

 

Dave

[sigtau]

On 10/27/2023 at 6:05 PM, Dave Roof said:

As of 1800 today, all Flying Leathernecks Decals are no longer on our site. All can be found here:

 

https://military-and-le-patches.myshopify.com/search?q=decals

 

While USMC Insignia LLC is located in Corpus Christi, Texas, all FLD stock will remain here in Georgia and orders placed through the new site will be fulfilled from here. 

 

Dave

 

Question, how do I go about getting the correction insert for FL48023, which I purchased direct from FLD?  I saw your post in September on FB, commented recently, and sent an email direct to you.  Still no response or answer on when the correction inserts will be mailed out.

[Dave Roof]

16 minutes ago, sigtau said:

 

Question, how do I go about getting the correction insert for FL48023, which I purchased direct from FLD?  I saw your post in September on FB, commented recently, and sent an email direct to you.  Still no response or answer on when the correction inserts will be mailed out.

 

I'm sending them out as often as I can. I literally have been going through every order placed since they were released to find those with this sheet ordered and getting them out through that process.

[Da SWO]

On 10/27/2023 at 8:05 PM, Dave Roof said:

As of 1800 today, all Flying Leathernecks Decals are no longer on our site. All can be found here:

 

https://military-and-le-patches.myshopify.com/search?q=decals

 

While USMC Insignia LLC is located in Corpus Christi, Texas, all FLD stock will remain here in Georgia and orders placed through the new site will be fulfilled from here. 

 

Dave

We can still order the other stuff?

[Dave Roof]

1 hour ago, Da SWO said:

We can still order the other stuff?

 

Yes, the http://www.flyingleathernecksdecals.com web site is still active and all of the resin, canopy masks and vinyl detail sets are there, albeit now under the Flying Leathernecks Scale Creations banner. Links for the decal sheets are there as well, just not the ability to purchase from that site. 

 

Literally the only thing that's changed is the site from which the decals can be ordered. They will still be available from all of our existing retailers and all stock is maintained here with me.  

 

I posted this on Facebook, but will mention it here as well. Let's say you order a decal sheet from the USMC Insignia website, then a few resin items from my site. All items will ship together, and I will refund the shipping for the FLSC items. 

[Darren Roberts]

So what was it that the USMC had a problem with? If it was the logo, just make stickers with the new logo and place them over the old one on the packaging. If logo is on the decal sheet, either cut it off  or color over it with a Sharpie. Problem solved. 😁

[Dave Roof]

1 hour ago, Darren Roberts said:

So what was it that the USMC had a problem with? If it was the logo, just make stickers with the new logo and place them over the old one on the packaging. If logo is on the decal sheet, either cut it off  or color over it with a Sharpie. Problem solved. 😁

 

Flying Leathernecks, the EGA, Marines, VMFA-xxx, VMFA(AW)-xxx are all trademarked. All squadron logos and squadron names are also trademarked. Hell, the Marine Corps trademarked the term 'Run Amuck' and the year 1775!!! Literally speaking, any and all aftermarket products that bear Marine Corps marks are infringing on their trademark and can be shut down. A friend and fellow Marine actually just had his wood work with Marine Corps logos removed from his Etsy page. They're really starting to crack down. 

[Dave Roof]

1 hour ago, stalal said:

 

Sorry. I might sound stupid here. 

 

What if Hasegawa, a non US producer of kits, issue their Hornet with VFMA decals? Do they need to get a trademark permission at manufacturing or at the time of selling? 

 

You may just ignore my question as I m trying to figure out how Marines decals could be produced by other manufacturers if there are such copyright laws. For example, AOA decals has some Marines decals for Phantoms.

 

 

First, this isn't a copyright issue, it's a trademark issue. There is a difference between the two. 

 

Technically, every single hobby company, whether a large kit manufacturer or small one man operation, that has any of the service branches markings in their kits or products should be licensed (this isn't specific to the Marine Corps by the way, all US DoD branches have the same requirements). Like just about everyone else in this small industry, I operated without a license for several years. In fact, I didn't even know it was a thing until 2015. In March of that year, I emailed the trademark and licensing office and asked about the requirements. They no s&%t wanted me to have commercial liability insurance with a minimum requirement of 1-million individual and 1-million aggregate coverage (I still have the email), as well as meet FTC guidelines for manufacturing and provide my "corporate" structure. I was like, bro, I work out of my garage and draw stuff on the computer, get it printed, put it in bags and sell them. I pretty much blew it off from there.

 

In late 2019, a friend suggested I try to get a hobbyist license. So, I downloaded the paperwork, filled it out, scanned it and emailed it to them. A couple days later it got approved, I paid $100 fee and got a trademark license number (20011). That license expired at the end of 2020 or very early 2021. With everything that was going on at that time, I completely forgot to renew it. 

 

A few weeks ago while going through boxes still packed from our move back in April, I found the paperwork. Again, I emailed the T&L office and asked if I could still renew or if I had to reapply. Had to reapply. However, the whole process is different now and the requirements have changed. After filling out the new application, I was notified that they would not be approving it because they now considered me an "active infringer" as I've been selling products with Marine Corps marks for the past two years without a license. I was quite literally told to shut down and had it implied I'd be served with a cease and desist. I've been working with USMC Insignia for a few years, so I reached out to him and we reached an agreement for him to purchase Flying Leathernecks Decals. Admittedly, the T&L office was a bit annoyed that I found a work around, but they have a great relationship with USMCI and worked it out. In addition, they also acknowledged that FLD was good for the brand and that I've been serving the Marine Corps community well for the past several years, so it was a win-win for all involved. I did have to give up the name, as well as the majority stake in the profits. I was however allowed to maintain full creative control. Other than actual ownership and how much I net, nothing else changed.

 

Now, to address your question why AOA and other small companies can still produce decals with Marine Corps stuff on them. Simply put, they're operating under the radar, like l did all those years. "Technically", every single decal company out there right now are infringing on service branches trademarks, and if the respective service branches T&L offices decided to get wild hairs up their collective a$-$es, they could shut all of them down. Will they? More than likely no, as they just don't have the time or manpower to do so. That said, the USMC did just shut down a friends Etsy shop (well, they had Etsy remove all his items with Marine Corps marks on them). There is a very real possibility they're looking. 

 

How kit manufacturers deal with this situation is not my concern and I really don't care as it doesn't really affect me. 

 

Bottom line, I'm in this situation because I brought myself to their attention.

 

 

[Dave Roof]