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[cgibbs219]

What kind of patent (or maybe I need to trademark) would be best for a doll that has a specific purpose but will be different everytime it is made. It will be different depending on what people choose to order. The closest things I could come up for as far as comparisons would be beanie babies, or american dolls. Does this make sense? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

[khazzah]

The closest things I could come up for as far as comparisons would be beanie babies, or american dolls. 

Sounds like Build-A-Bear to me.

If you're thinking about a patent, you should think carefully about how your idea differs from Build-A-Bear.

[Wiscagent]

Is there a special method being used to make the dolls?  If you take some design information, and then follow a particular procedure or use certain materials to make the dolls, then there may be an opportunity for patent protection.

[JimIvey]

Here are some choices:

Trademarks:  the name by which the company making the dolls is identified can't be used by counterfeiters.  For example, "Ty" and "BeanieBabies" are trademarks.

Copyrights:  text and/or artwork can't be copied.  Arguably, the dolls themselves could be copyrighted (as if they were small statues).  I think their was a book about BeanieBabies and Ty sued.  I think they lost, but they tried.  There have been lawsuits over copyright of Barbies as well.

Patents:  new and non-obvious technical innovations.  If you design a doll-customization technique different from those used in Build-A-Bear workshops or whatever was used to make Cabbage Patch Kids, you might have something you can patent.

Design patents:  new ornamental designs.  I've seen design patents for athletic shoe soles and uppers.  There might be design patents for dolls, though I haven't personally seen any.

Those are the major ones.  There are others like unfair competition, trade dress, etc.  But those are things you just sue for; you don't need to register anything for unfair competition, I think.

Regards.