I'm was originally interested in knowing what it would take to sell a phone under my own brand that runs an Android fork.

From here I discovered a Google-run consortium called Open Handset Alliance[1] which includes members such as Motorola, HTC, and others, essentially restricting members from building competing products while allowing licensing for default applications (like Gmail, Google Maps) exists, and:

> OHA members are contractually forbidden from producing devices that > are based on competing forks of Android.

Does this mean I cannot manufacture my own phone under my own brand while sourcing parts from anyone under the OHA? Or does this just mean those manufacturers cannot sell phones under that brand while running a competitor fork of Android?

I stumbled upon an example:

A company Fairphone is now selling a phone with an Android-forked called /e/[2], even though it's CPU is sourced by an OHA member (specifically Qualcomm)[3]. I've also learned other companies (including /e/) are selling "refurbished" phones in a similar way.

Which begs the question:

Could I legally buy new iPhone 12s (or other new flagship phones), modify it (by maybe just painting it or diamond studding it) and resell them as my own brand (assuming the end product did not have "Apple branding" and was not advertised as such)?

But really what I'm asking is: If I were to load an entirely new operating system on that hardware, would that also be legal?

  [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Handset_Alliance#cite_note-ars-amadeo-6
  [2]: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/04/fairphone-and-e-team-up-to-build-open-source-sustainable-smartphone/
  [3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairphone_3