There's a big difference between the lake fork slots and this bait. There's already several baits out there using a series of balls on a rounded shank with a single ball on the end. This is slightly different, but doesn't look anything like the flat slots that Lake Fork uses in their swim baits. I wouldn't worry. At worst, they'll send you a letter asking you to stop, before they do anything else.

As to the bait, Jeep's question of how long matters. Also, the softness of the plastic will really affect the action. If it's soft enough, it'll have action, and if it's retreived like a swimbait, the ball will add to the action as the water moves past it.

I'd like to try it and see.