Intellectual property in China.

[leaford]

Damn, you've really got to watch these people!

I was just sent some more pics from our liquid supplier of their factory, which I will write up in a post later today.

But they put captions on them explaining what is pictured, and they used MY words from my first post on some of them! ANd they were planning to give them to other clients!!!!

I am very proud of my writing, and I get a LOT of readers both here and on my blog, who agree. I was ...... and insulted that they would give MY work, which Steve has paid a lot of money to make possible, to other clients.

Bad enough that others will now get the same benefit we did, of being able to show the nice clean conditions at the plant, without having to actually GO there like I did. But to steal MY words as well???

Rest assured I put a stop to THAT. I made it clear that if they did that, I would walk, and take ALL of our future business with me. Not even kidding one bit.

And the same with our exclusive flavor formulas. I requested some of our Xmas flavors months ago now, and they told me they had never had anyone request them before, and asked if I thought there would be a market for them. Foolishly I said yes. Then our primary manufacturer screwed us on the schedule, so we didn't get our carts made soon enough. ANd lo and behold, suddenly other suppliers have MY flavors before we did.

I am finding out that getting and maintaining exclusivity on new ideas is a harder fight than getting new ideas made.

 

[FlipnOut]

That's been well known for a long time... The Chinese knock off any product that they can, whether they came up with it or not. Look at all the Honda motorcycle copies that come into the USA with an exact duplicate of past Honda powerplants. Not much anyone can do about it now, we've made our bed, so might as well take advantage of the cheap labor while they're still willing to finance us. When they decide they're no longer willing to do that, it'll all be over.

 

[cassavetes]

Wait, the Chinese make knock-offs??

 

[Taryn]

Ouch Leaford! I guess the game is played a bit differently there!

 

[cassavetes]

I thought that was coal...

 

[fenez]

That is the norm over there. That is how they do business.

 

[leaford]

That's been well known for a long time...

Ouch Leaford! I guess the game is played a bit differently there!

That is the norm over there. That is how they do business.

Yeah, I knew that, but it's still a pisser when it actually happens.

 

[maaron]

That sucks! sorry Leaford!

 

[Mary Kay]

Leaf, I will let you in on a secret..once it's "out there in ether space..it's OUT!" I feel for you guys and you especially but it's the price of doing business when a second or 3rd party is involved.
All I can say is copies can be made of your products..But nobody can copy the good hearts of the V4L team. I do business with you because I love everyone involved!

 

[leaford]

Thanks MK. That does help a little!

 

[Adrenalynn]

You own anything you pen. You own anything you photograph. Automatic copyright, whether it's penned/shot there or not.

Steve owns it as a Work For Hire, most likely, depending upon your relationship.

If anyone uses your work, you simply issue a DMCA Takedown. If they don't comply - well, not complying with a DMCA notice is pretty serious.

I'm not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice by any stretch. You should consult one. That said - I do a lot of IP in the US and China (and a goodly number of places). You know my full name, so you can search my patents in China... So from PERSONAL experience (again - not qualified to give a legal opinion) - a DMCA takedown is trivially easy to accomplish.

Samples can be found at Chilling Effects.

Don't panic yet. There's no reason that they should capitalize on your hard work and Steve's dollar.

 

[henrid84]

Adre... its china those rules dont and will never apply to them. countries can choose whether or not to abide to trademark/copyright laws, if they dont then we (consumers) try to stay away from them.

 

[Adrenalynn]

I'm sorry, Henrid. You're mistaken.

Part of the agreement in entering the WTO.

Yes, it is a choice countries make. Whether they want to participate on the world trade stage or not.

 

[henrid84]

not sure what part i was mistaken about? china not being aprt? if they are then they sure do break the rules alot.

 

[leaford]

You own anything you pen. You own anything you photograph. Automatic copyright, whether it's penned/shot there or not.

Steve owns it as a Work For Hire, most likely, depending upon your relationship.

If anyone uses your work, you simply issue a DMCA Takedown. If they don't comply - well, not complying with a DMCA notice is pretty serious.

I'm not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice by any stretch. You should consult one. That said - I do a lot of IP in the US and China (and a goodly number of places). You know my full name, so you can search my patents in China... So from PERSONAL experience (again - not qualified to give a legal opinion) - a DMCA takedown is trivially easy to accomplish.

Samples can be found at Chilling Effects.

Don't panic yet. There's no reason that they should capitalize on your hard work and Steve's dollar.

Thanks, Addy. Shouldn't be necessary over the captions; I was the first to see them, so I headed that off at the pass.

And for the flavors, no way to prove they got my specific formula, and Pumpkin pie isn't exactly trademarkable. But I know for a fact that I brought the idea to them first, so its still a pisser.

 

[Adrenalynn]

Actually, they don't. They follow the treaty pretty darned closely. I've had to have IP theft prosecuted in China several times. Their process and protections are... kinda special... but they exist and are enforced. If they weren't, they'd find themselves pitched right back into the feudal ages on the world stage.

 

[Adrenalynn]

Yeah, the flavors would be tougher to protect without patent or trade-secret protection of the formulations... [Comfort!]

Live and learn on that one, I suppose. Sucks though!

 

[Skyler]

Too bad we can't make our own product here in the states.

 

[leaford]

Never say never; we would like to and just might if we can find the right manufacturing partner/s. But for now, we work with who we have to.

 

[Adrenalynn]

We surely could. Too bad no one would spend that kinda money.

Seriously, though, it'd just be 10x as expensive before the government touched it, then probably 2x on top of that.

Not to say we shouldn't. There are a lot of advantages to go with those disadvantages. Always a trade-off, right?