Designing a shoe that is similar to another designer's

[jenjen]

I want to design and have manufactured a shoe that is similar to a top fashion designer's shoe, but not an exact copy. It was a design I had in mind and was searching for photos of a similar one to make a sketch of it (I can draw only from looking at something, not from seeing it in my mind). That's when I found out that Prada has a very similar shoe design. Would I get into trouble if that designer's shoe design has a design patent? I tried searching the USPTO's website to see if the design was patented, but I couldn't find it.

[nickhumph]

If you can't find the patent, then... why not !

[GrowStats]

To avoid lawsuits, I suggest you provide an AUTHENTICATE watermark for your design. And a footnote of some sort saying that IF THE DESIGN MAY/MAY NOT LOOK SIMILAR TO AN ORIGINAL, PATENTED ONE, THIS WAS CLEARLY COINCIDENTAL, AND NO INTENT OF STEALING THE DESIGN OR INFRINGEMENT WAS MADE.

Way to LAWYER-ing it u.