The problem with China as I see it is not that they have a culture of ripping off designs or anything like that, but rather that there doesn't seem to be an infrastructure in place that prevents individual companies from doing it. There are certainly Chinese companies that make their way by ripping off other designs, but I would say that Ovale, for example, has been an innovator since the beginning, and I think their devices have been pretty original (like the Twist and the eVic). I get the impression that it's left up to individual companies to determine their own business ethics, and that's pretty problematic.
I'm certainly not pro-China and I disagree with a lot of what their government does, but frankly I'm glad somebody violated that American 1960s "smokeless non-tobacco cigarette" patent because clearly it wasn't going anywhere, and I doubt the early 2000s e-cigarette had much in common with the old patent-holder.
I think everyone here knows how I feel about it. I have been drug through the mud, called a racist, compared to Hitler etc. etc. It's a hard line to walk, especially as a vendor about to open a store. I have watched ALL of my designs being copied by individuals and companies around the world. V1 pipes, mjolnirs, the VapeSafe, and so on. I can say that it has in no way effected our sales thus far. Our sales have continued to grow rapidly, despite even a Chinese knock off of the mjolnir (which looked like an unpolished turd btw). There are at least half a dozen mod makers out there using my switch design. What can I say, I knew it would happen, and imitation is the greatest form of flattery. I hope that ten years from now I can at least be regarded as the grandfather of e-pipes.
