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Imagine and Hp laptop, or a Mac. Would it be legal to modify the case of the laptop, for example change the color, shape and the materials and resell it as "modified by blah blah", or "designed by blaha" or "Hp laptop by blah blah".

It will be written that it is an Hp laptop or a Mac, but in the case by "blah blah".

No software or hardware will be modified, only the appearance. Some buttons or LED's may be dysfunctional after appearance mod, but are merely covered by the case and are not removed from the motherboard.

Is it legal? The idea has nothing to do with laptops, it was just used as an example.

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A great place to ask this at a lawyer's office. A poor place to ask this is on the internet. – Marcin May 16 '11 at 7:15

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If you are advertising with the original manufacturers Label you will need his/her approval, otherwise they could legally punish you.

For an example, did you thing Microsoft would be happy, if you sell Software under their Label? Guess what, you would find yourself rather quick in a lawsuit.

However, that might not be always the case. But get yourself in a good legal position and ask for written agreement of the manufacturer.

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Sure, it's legal, as long as you make it clear that you are not officially licensed by or affiliated with the OEM. If any of your modifications alter what the purchaser would have originally been entitled too (most common: warranty) then that should be spelled out as well.

The closest example that comes to mind is the company that was converts MacBooks to tablets, these guys:

http://www.axiotron.com/index.php?id=modbook

There are countless others though.

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Try that with cloths or music and you likely end up out of court before you realize what you did. – NetTecture Apr 15 '11 at 19:54
Clothes there would be no issue with. It's a total ownership is in the rights of the holder scenario. Music is somewhat in the middle. Many songs get sampled, remixed, etc. But neither example seems to be a logical parallel to the OP's example. – Brian Karas Apr 15 '11 at 20:25
The product is electronics. – user9636 Apr 15 '11 at 23:28
Also, how do I find out what can be done to a product and what can not? What is the document called like that? – user9636 Apr 15 '11 at 23:31
There is no document. In the US for most hardware type items possession implies full ownership. You can change or modify anything you like if you own the hardware. You cannot generally modify things in a manner that causes them to be out of compliance with a particular law or regulation. Eg: modifying a wireless access point to make it transit beyond FCC mandated power levels. – Brian Karas Apr 16 '11 at 1:44
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You can contact the original manufacturer and get some written agreement. I am afraid, that in some modification cases it can void the warranty.

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I would give my own warranty, maybe even make the agreement with customer that the warranty will be voided... – user9636 Apr 15 '11 at 13:39
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The legality depends on the product that you are modifying.

For example, if you buy a Ford Mustang, modify it, and sell it, then I don't see any legal problem.

If you do the same with software, however, it could be a problem since software is licensed and not sold.

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