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Of all the various companies I see selling "GW type" models, how do they do it? Is it just a matter of not naming them per what GW has named them? I have seen, "War wolf rider mounts" or other things that are intended for GW play, but not official GW models.

You mean models which look like models GW has made. It is because GW didn't create the original look of everything.

GW don't own the "giant wolf". If you want to model a giant wolf, you can model a giant wolf.

If GW needed to stop you, they should have made the "Fenris Wolf" an original creation, something like a psionic badger-raccoon-dog with cyber limbs and a helicopter tail.

That level of creativity isn't something GW is good at, and they just made a giant wolf.

Consequently a lot of their models are pretty generic and can easily be "copied" by other companies

What's happening is that anyone who makes a giant wolf is copying nature's wolf.

There are a few different factors.

Not using GW names is a big part of it.

Not walking too close to existing GW miniatures design-wise is another... A giant wolf is fairly generic. A 'not Space Marine' has to be different enough to clearly not be a GW Space Marine.

And doing business in a country that doesn't follow IP laws as closely as others certainly seems to help in some cases.

Brother Ramses wrote:Of all the various companies I see selling "GW type" models, how do they do it? Is it just a matter of not naming them per what GW has named them? I have seen, "War wolf rider mounts" or other things that are intended for GW play, but not official GW models.

Hope they don't sue, or if they do, that they can get a cheap lawyer.

GW's IP Protection, while something that should be respected, is not a blanket that covers some wide field like '28mm science fiction models.' You can make your own minis to the same scale, your own parts, etc. To use your example, the idea of wolf riders is not unique (lots of fantasy has done it first, including WHFB!). The idea of high-tech knights riding big wilf-beasts is a bit more unique, but still probably not protectable. The specific names, artwork, etc. of this idea is protectable.

The exact line is a bit trickier, which is why we have lawyers. GW, currently, seems to be a bit hostile towards 3rd part add-on manufacturers, which is a shame as most really do try to encourage sales.

The good/bad of 40k is that it's such an open universe that there's massive room for 3rd party manufacturers. Imperial Guard, for example, is known to have tons of regiments with highly individual uniform and equipment standards. The only really common element I'd expect as a player is the 'shorthand' of weapon designs: The angled muzzle common to most lasguns, the short barrel of boltguns, etc. Companies have trouble, probably rightly so, reproducing these elements.

But, really, the layman's rules seem to be to stay away from GW's named stuff, respect their IP, and don't make yourself a target. Also, see a lawyer if you're concerned.