Levity aside, the IP issue is currently a hot topic with many multi-national supply companies in the printing and graphic arts industry feeling the pain that other industry sectors, like fashion and jewellery, have lived with for years – – cheap copies of their precious inventions.
IP is a relatively generic term which encompasses a range of business assets governed by property laws – – trademarks, patents, copyright, trade secrets, and even goodwill.
But what is the value of property laws when they are seemingly impossible to enforce, particularly in the new super (or soon to be) economies of China and India, where their laws don’t embrace IP issues – – and where the majority of “fake” products originate.
Many companies who chose to set up manufacturing bases in countries like China have found their IP compromised. Opening the door to the West has enabled China’s economy to grow rapidly, thanks largely to the brain power of the First World countries who now find they have given away more than they bargained for.
Original equipment manufacturers (OEM), fashion designers, software developers, even Scotch whisky – – just about every conceivable commodity – -has been copied. And to add insult to injury, much of what is ripped off is being sold back to the countries where the product originated, often passed off as the real thing. No wonder Coca Cola has kept its formula secret on pain of death.
Those of us who work in the “arts” endlessly struggle with copyright issues. But if we thought it was difficult in the past to seek recompense for those stolen thoughts, images and words, today it is virtually impossible.
Depending on whom you talk to the internet is either the bastion of all that is good in the modern world or an evil cyber-beast whose underbelly is crawling with opportunists ready to rip you off.
Whole chapters of my books have been lifted and reproduced on sites without any remuneration. The costs to me as an individual author to chase these invisible cyberspace publishers doesn’t warrant the financial outlay, not to mention the months, or years, of my life that it would take in a bid to seek justice.
Major companies, of course, have deep purses and teams of lawyers with billable hours to fill, but even then often the IP thieves get away with the heist because in many instances they have disappeared, moved on or shifted blame by the time the law catches up with them.
Giants like Nokia constantly battle to keep their secrets safe. On blogs across the web last year people were busy chatting about a new Nokia phone that had been released – – only it was a copy out of China produced before the original had even hit the market.
But it’s not just fake products that breach IP laws. Google in the USA is currently facing a $1 billion lawsuit for allegedly “stealing” a concept from a partner company.
And IP threats can come from within your own organisation. In a survey of 400 US professionals 70 per cent admitted to taking company secrets with them when they moved to another job. The impact of IP theft on the US economy sits at $250 billion a year.
The difficulties in bringing copycats to justice have seen companies take another legal road. In April this year in Germany eBay was in court to face charges in relation to the sale of counterfeit Rolex watches. Three months later in France the online auctioneering giant was ordered to pay LVMH (Mo‰t Hennessy – Louis Vuitton) $63.2 million and was banned from allowing the sale of LVMH brands (cosmetics and fragrances) on its site. And in the USA recently eBay narrowly escaped another lawsuit by super-luxury brand Tiffany. eBay called the court ruling a “victory for consumers”, but is it really a victory for anyone other than the forgers?
Another trend in IP reclamation is to sue those companies that act as agents for products made in places like China. “Buyer Beware” has never been more relevant if you want to avoid facing the wrath of the OEM’s team of legal eagles. Claiming you didn’t know your supplier wasn’t licensed to produce the OEM goods isn’t going to cut it as a legal stance.
And what of the crooks who generate the copies and profit from the hard work and creative genius of others? Only in the movies do the good guys usually win. In the real world these culprits get away with it and live to steal another day.
Comment below to have your say on this story.
If you have a news story or tip-off, get in touch at editorial@sprinter.com.au.
Sign up to the Sprinter newsletter