April 28, 2006
Hijacking an Entire Brand
Next step in pirating: Faking a company, by David Lague
Counterfeiters set up what amounted to a parallel NEC brand with links to a network of more than 50 electronics factories in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. In the name of NEC, the pirates copied NEC products, and went as far as developing their own range of consumer electronic products - everything from home entertainment centers to MP3 players. They also coordinated manufacturing and distribution, collecting all the proceeds.
Counterfeiters carried NEC business cards, commissioned product research and development in the company’s name and signed production and supply orders. They also required factories to pay royalties for “licensed” products and issued official-looking warranty and service documents.
Some of the factories that were raided had erected bogus NEC signs and shipped their products packaged in authentic looking boxes and display cases. NEC said about 50 products were counterfeited, including home entertainment systems, MP3 players, batteries, microphones and DVD players.
April 28th, 2006 at 10:49 am
I’ve seen even more original approaches, which some Chinese businessmen claim to be legal. They search the trademark registration database for unregistered brand names in China, of international companies not yet operating in China mainland and register those as their own. After that, they will take the identity of the original company. Some examples are: Sacha cosmetics (US cosmetics company), Duschdas (German shampoo company), Urban Decay (cosmetics company), Jeanne Piaubert (skin care company); these are all sold and manufacured in China by the Chinese company Moranca. Moranca even presents itself as a Canadian company, using a fake website.
April 28th, 2006 at 11:55 am
This is where China finally fails: they run out of people to steal from.