How to stop Shanzhai products

Shanzhai products are unlikely to disappear because they use the desire of people to use brand-name products to create these illegal benefits. So, whether it's a designer or an entrepreneur, how do they stop a fake product? or can you say, in the face of the challenge of counterfeit products, how do you create a chance?

No matter how different this time is, the law of imitation goods is always the same. Usually when an innovative design emerges, it is first introduced to a specific user group, which is then pushed through reproduction (often without the original design authorization) to the market of the vast majority of consumers.

"Shanzhai products are unavoidable. Lindsey Adelman, a lighting designer from New York, said, "It's not just black and white, it's reasonable to see something nice and want to have them." ”

That also makes sense for the imitation makers, who use the desire to use branded products to create illegal profits. So, whether it's a designer or an entrepreneur, how can they stop the counterfeiters? Or even further, how do you create opportunities in the face of the challenges of counterfeit products?

For the above problems, high-grade aluminum Navy Navy chair manufacturer Emeco Company will be a good example. The Emeco company is located in Pennsylvania State Hannover's factory, each chair is designed according to the icon, and through a rigorous 77-way production process. As a result, they became the most sturdy seats on U.S. naval ships since 1944. Today, the chair has been sold outside the market, in stores like Within reach, which cost more than 450 dollars, but it has to be said that the price is absolutely worthy of the quality of its product excellence. Unique industrial design, special historical significance, bright appearance and high quality strength, these features make the Navy Navy Chair in the circle of top designers, it is also placed in the Armani boutique and the Grand Hotel in New York These modern-style venues. However, the Navy Navy chairs have also benefited counterfeiters, who have been able to sell cheaper counterfeit navy naval chairs through cheap overseas factories.

To better monitor the protection of this star-type product, Emeco CEO Gregg Buchbinder became wary. He learned that Restoration Hardware's naval brand Chair had counterfeit Navy Navy chairs, and Emeco the American Furniture Company as a corporate indictment. Buchbinder formally filed a lawsuit against the company last October. After that, all the "Naval" brand chairs in the Restoration hardware store are down, and the company's catalogue is not allowed to use the "Naval" brand name. The cost of legal protection and litigation is quite high, but as a fighter in the fight against counterfeit products, buchbinder that it is well worth it and, more importantly, that he is putting some of the proceeds of the fight against counterfeit goods into the direction of public brand awareness education. In this case, for example, newspaper articles, news and blogs have reported extensively on restoration Hardware's lawsuit, which has made Emeco's customers realize that every penny they spend on Navy navy chairs is worth it because consumers enjoy high quality materials, Their consumption also creates jobs for local industries, and the high sustainability of products is a lifelong quality assurance.

But what Buchbinder did was not simply bring the counterfeiters to court. He realised that low price chairs also have market demand, which is a good business opportunity for Emeco companies. So in 2010, Emeco company launched a price of 260 U.S. dollars low-cost Navy Navy Chair, the chair using recycled environmentally friendly plastic bottles as a material, and using a relatively low cost of injection molding process produced. "This approach retains the craft tradition of Navy navy chairs and allows more people to buy Navy Navy chairs at a lower price," says Buchbinder. "For those counterfeit manufacturers, to meet low-end customers and customized products, Brand is a preemptive way to profit."

Lighting designer Adelman designed a spider chandelier that was handmade by a team of 15 people in its Manhattan studio and sold for $ thousands of. Before the chandelier enters the assembly stage, each part requires three mechanical stores and seven technicians to participate, and every fixture of the chandelier will take a whole day to complete. In addition, the entire team will spend a lot of time in creative work before the chandelier is assembled, including product design and prototyping.

Adelman It is clear that her design will attract the attention of some counterfeit product manufacturers, so is it possible for her to make some low-cost, low-quality changes to the product, like the Navy Navy chair? She has no interest in making cheap products. "What I really care about is the things that bring value to my career, my studio, and the quality of life," she says. "In my studio, there is no low-cost product, because it does not benefit a high quality life." ”

Adelman's approach is to thwart the manufacturers of counterfeit products and to nurture hands-on culture by providing tools for DIY users. On her company website, the "You can do It" Product Description manual, detailing how to make a Adelman-style chandelier, and all the standard accessories needed to make chandeliers can be purchased on Amazon. This approach has the indirect help to improve user loyalty, brand authenticity, and accelerated design. "Counterfeit products are a catalyst for our ongoing development of innovative products," Adelman said, "They give us the impetus to be one step ahead and keep us at a higher level of work." ”

Designer Sara Selepouchin created American Can tell, selling tea towels, bento bags, and coasters with her handwritten illustrations, priced from 14 to 40 dollars. A number of counterfeit products have appeared in the market, and even a representative of a manufacturer of a kitchen product industry, after visiting her showcase at a trade fair, began to imitate production. "Everyone may have skills, but if this skills is really a disastrous blow." "she said.

Selepouchin's friends and fans have helped her to warn counterfeit manufacturers that the most powerful weapon for counterfeit product makers is selepouchin irreplaceable illustration services. "If your product has a believable look and feel, it will be popular with the public," he said. "Your brand will even have the ability to protect itself." "To make the product more self-protection, Selepouchin is more focused on what is being drawn," she says: "These unique patterns are hard to imitate." ”

Marc Misthal is a partner of Gottlieb Rackman & Reisman, a company based in New York specializing in intellectual property protection law. Misthal said: "If people see a thing and say ' this is a certain design ', then the legal need for such personal intellectual property protection." "He suggested that there should be legal exclusivity protections for content designers like Selepouchin."

Josh Owen runs a design studio in New York named after him, and he is also a professor of industrial design at the Rochester Institute of Technology. The key to countering design counterfeiting, he says, is the need to put products on the market for the first time. Some new mechanisms, such as prototype equipment based on membership, crowdsourcing and exclusive marketing, can help start-up designers achieve faster growth than ever before.

"Although designers are more able to control the situation of counterfeit products than in the past, this has not yet formed a perfect system mechanism," says Owen. Owen also reminded his students of the most important point, that is, "don't imprison your ideas, if you bury them in your heart, it will only make you a paranoid extremist protectionists." You should work towards a balance that will help you manage your ideas and help you find a partner who can protect your ideas. ”

How to use legal protection?

The law provides a wealth of options for protecting an original design, especially as the revision of the patent bill has been scheduled for this year. For designers or manufacturers, the best way is to consult a lawyer who usually offers a price-preferable method. "Comparatively speaking, it is better to spend money beforehand, so that it can be protected." "The cost is relatively large," says Marc Misthal, a Gottlieb,rackman & Reisman firm, "because it is a struggle against counterfeit goods manufacturers or catches them." ”

Here are a few different levels of protection available to designers. Misthal lawyer needs to give the reader a final tip: When authorizing your design work, try to retain ownership of the rights (or, conversely, deliver the right to those who produce and distribute your designs).

Copyright protects artistic expression (not the originality itself, but the form of creativity). A painting, a movie, a song, or a piece of text can be copyrighted, but functional elements cannot be protected, such as the function of a chair. However, if the shape of the chair is particularly unusual and can even be seen as a sculpture, or if the chair is made of hand-shaped patterns or other forms of art, the Chair is entitled to copyright protection. The United States Copyright Office will charge a 35-dollar electronic form fee, once authorized, the validity of the copyright can be maintained until the creator died 70 years after.

The LOGO is a clear source of the product. Logos can protect any recognizable product characteristics, such as product name, symbol, or logo, such as the Burberry of Burberry, the red soles of French Christian (Christian Louboutin) shoes. The US government charges 275 to 375 dollars for each trademark request, and it may take years to get a trademark, but the trademark has a permanent validity period.

Practical patents protect the innovation of hand-made classes, such as the innovative folding method of chairs. In legal terms, the handmade class must be "novelty" and "novel" (nonobvious), which means that even if someone has the skills in a particular field, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will not implement a practical patent protection. Practical patent protection is the most expensive, the need to pay about 7000 U.S. dollars ~ million dollars, the average underwriting period of about 3 years ~7 years, valid for 20 years.

Design patent protection product appearance, product range includes all goods, from handbags to furniture. As with utility patents, the appearance of a product must also be "novel (novel)" and "nonobvious". Typically, this type of patent requires a 12-month ~18-month underwriting period, with an average cost of $2500 to USD 3500, valid for 20 years. "Most people who apply for the patent will benefit from it," Misthal said. "The patent is very strong, and Apple won the lawsuit against Samsung by relying on a design patent." "(Applications for design patents and utility patents must be filed within one year of the sale or presentation of the product to the public.) )

(Via Entrepreneur Translation | Kai Shan)