who "owns" a tartan?

[RockyR]

I was wondering the same thing so + 1 for me too.

All so why is it that only one Mill can run a certain tartan and only that Mill.
But I can buy the same tartan i from a vendor here in PV and it is ok ?

** Who owns the tartan ? ** and is it really a big deal here in the US ?

THIS question (above) may be due to copyright issues and permissions. I.E. HOE has the copyright on all of the Irish County tartans. THEY hold the right we weave them in wool as they CREATED them, so that's their right. They gave MM permission to weave the County Fermannagh tartan in PV, so THAT one is available in PV from MM only AND in wool from HOE only.

The copyright holder / designer is the one who decides who can / can't weave the tartan. When the copyright holder is a mill, it's pretty obvious that they'd want exclusivity on their own design.