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Sunday, July 19

Big Business crushes the little guy!

I am usually a very cheerful person especially when I am creating. I am one woman who loves to create, sometimes it is painting, other times it is sewing soft baby items, sewing womens accessories, or making something for the home.

Today, I feel crushed, sooooo, I am going to let off a little steam.

If you are looking for my sweet little baby gifts sets and soft baby blankets for a new baby you won’t find them on my site any longer.
Etsy removed them from my shop after receiving a notice from the Taggies Corporation that my products were an infringement of their products patent.
This was a shock to me, who is this Taggies Corporation? I never heard of them….so I find the link to their patent an item called a Taggie Blanket.
My products looked nothing like the tiny little 12 inch square of fleece with 20 “tags” sticking out along the edges.
Mine were made of soft cotton and minky and had satin blanket binding with a few ribbons attached under the satin on top of the printed fabric. Granted, they had a few ribbons on them, but not 20 all around the edges. That alone is the only way they were remotely similar. Fabric, shape, size, construction…trim, everything was different.
I have been sewing forever, and making all sorts of baby products since I was first expecting my son, including blankets, clothing and soft toys. I recently decided to try Etsy to help with the ever increasing expenses. I didn’t expect to make a fortune, just help with the bills. All the baby items I made for my children or as gifts always included something soft for the baby to touch, usually ribbons or satin. After reading about the company, I was surprised to learn that they discovered that babies love ribbons and tags on items better then the items themselves. Hmmmm, is there anyone out there that didn’t / doesn’t know that? My great grandmother who made handmade quilts knew that, her quilts always included something soft to touch! She made these quilts for all the children and grandchildren in the family, almost till her death at 93. How can they make such claims? This is just plain ridiculous, but.....


Be forewarned you could be next! If you make anything for a baby…better not put a looped ribbon(/any ribbon???)on it!

Ok, that’s enough so, what’s next? I need time to reflect ….maybe I will start a painting. Then I will be back to creating the things I love to make for sweet little babies.


I'm not the first! Check out these links:

6 comments:

The Great Ethan Allen said...

It happens, I once got a wonderful letter from a lawyer saying one of my carvings ( a WOOD CARVING) was too close to his clients (PAINTING!) I didn't like the carving to begine with but some people are very anal about thier "creative products" It's whoever has the deepest pockets, or maybe they are trying to drum up publicity.

giggles'N' rainbows said...

The Great Ethan Allen: Thanks for the kind words. They definitely have the deepest pockets.

WTF Store said...

Guess what baby product I'll never be buying?

It would be one thing if you had started a huge manufacturing company selling ribbon blankets, but to attack you on our little handmade site is just down right pathetic. I don't know who's worse, the company, or whoever let them patent blankets with ribbons on.

giggles'N' rainbows said...

Mortira,
Many people that have sewn for years agree with you on that. They feel that a patent on blankets with ribbons on them should never have been granted. Everyone knows that they have been around forever. Unfortunately, someone needs to stand up and contest the patent or I’m afraid this will be happening to many others.
Some others that shared in this kind of experience have lost much more ….most have started over and are making new more creative products that far exceed their old products and any Taggies blanket. I appreciate your comments thanks so much for sharing.

Jennifer Towler said...

Apparently, the patten covers items way beyond blankets, as I just had my quilted baby balls removed from my etsy shop, due to a complaint my the Taggie company. I already use some rickrack and am thinking of switching to all rick-rack or even use fabric loops instead.

Little Sidekick said...

Reviving this thread and chiming in here; just had some fabric balls with ribbon loops removed from my Etsy shop. Of course, they're one of my best selling products, and of course, I just ordered a TON of fabric to keep up with the demand for these.
Funny too, because when I opened my Etsy shop, I studiously avoided making tag blankets, because from my layperson's interpretation of the patent, it appeared that only "interactive blankets and pillows" would be an infringement. I didn't realize that ANYTHING with a ribbon loop sewn in would be subject to such scrutiny.
If I were a women of means I would hire an attorney and give these women a taste of their own medicine. It's sad that they can wave threatening letters around and frighten home crafters with the idea of a lawsuit, when their patent could probably be easily challenged. Especially as it pertains to any random object that is NOT a blanket, but happens to have ribbon loops sewn in.
All I can say is, karma is a bitch, and one day it will catch up to these awful, awful women.