With regard to patents:
Patents last 17 - 20 years (depending how long it took from filing to granting of the patent) - if this part has "been around for years", the patent may have expired or is set to expire.
Changing the material may allow the mount to be copied, depending on the wording in the claims. If it says something like ... the preferred embodiment, cast of aluminum... in the first claim, changing the material or manufacturing process would allow the design to be coppied.
You can not patent an oil filter mount, it is neither novel nor inventive, the embodiment can be patented so by merely changing the shape of the mount, it could be copied. If the design is neither novel or inventive, it can be coppied and the patent will be found to be notwithstanding.
Furthermore, the purpose of a patent is to make the invention public knowledge, in return for this you get to have a monoply on your invention for the term of the patent. Patents are public knowledge, go to the USPTO site @
http://164. 195. 100. 11/netahtml/search-bool.html and do a patent search, every US patent ever filled is there.
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As a design engineer, I devote 1 hour of my days to reveiwing prior art (other patents).
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91. 5 CTD 4X4, 5" Stacks, Tweaked Pump, 33" Boots (in the summer), Unlimited Slip,
Big, Bad Dodge
[This message has been edited by unclebilly (edited 04-05-2001). ]