Once upon a time, Imitation was considered flattery. Anyway, ChuckEvans, no, the concept of a vanged, winged, blood drinking creature called a Vampyr/Vampire is not the IP of anyone. Any concept that is older than print is in the public domain. Take Hobbits for example. Tolkien's "Hobbits" may be his Intellectual Property, but even those were inspired by the much older concept of a Halfling or Halfman. The origins of which are so old and diverse, there is no way anyone could ever determine who created the idea. Most mythical creatures do not belong to anyone as such. Only specific representations or naming of certain ones. Creating a short human figure with curly brown hair and naming it "Frodo" would be an obvious infringement on the Trademark held by Tolkein's descendants, but calling the figure a "Halfling" would be perfectly acceptable. Calling it a "Hobbit" would be iffy. There was a text in a local resource library many many years ago, the title of which I truly wish I could recall. It was about fantasy creatures and the origin of their concept.