tackle design question

[Dand]

Flatlander and others who posted on the tackle crafting topic - I have a related question.  I know of a spinner design that used to be made in the 70's and is no longer available.  I want to make some for myself and possibly to sell to others.

Question: Where can I find out if a tackle design is protected or if manufacture and sale of a design has some legal restrictions?

I found some of these old lures in my dad's stuff - tried them this fall and they still work well.  But I lost them all.

Any help would be very welcome.

Also, if you are looking for a tool and materials to make spinners, there is an outfit called Fisherman's Shack in Oregon that is a great supplier.
They are on line but I don't have the link handy.

Thanks folks

[flatlander]

Can't help you with that one. I'm not really sure. I guess the only place I would know to look would be at the patent office. You can do a search online, but I'm guessing it will take a while.

http://patft.uspto.gov/netahtml/search-bool.html

[Dand]

being basically lazy I was hoping to avoid a tedious search but it may come to that.

Really appreciate the link.