Quote:
Originally Posted by tony20009
Were I the former company you mention, I would have a problem with it just as Rolex, Cartier, and many others do.
That said, whom do those companies sue for trademark infringements? I don't know of every suit they bring. I know about a year ago I read that Audemars Piguet sued Tommy Hilfiger for trademark infringement.
Also, I know that fakes have been made available since the late 1970s and they haven't stopped. Rather their abundance has grown. That didn't happen because nobody is buying them and the legitimate trademark owners were zealously defending their intellectual property.
They are generally made in China and they have gotten progressively better as time telling machines, although they aren't as well made as the things they ape. Part of the problem is that authentic high end watches are so damn overbuilt and over engineered that there's not much good reason in the average consumer's mind or life circumstances to buy them and pay $8K+ for them, whether they can afford to do so or not.
Moreover, the companies that make the vast majority of the fakes aren't the ones who are sued out of business. The simple fact is that there are more individuals in the PRC who own a fake Rolex than there are people on the planet who own a real one.
That's so for AP as well, and yet AP sued Tommy Hilfiger over a watch that I wouldn't have known existed had AP not sued TH. AP sued another company -- Swiss somebody...I don't recall their name -- over a watch that they claimed breached their IP rights. As with the suit against TH, I would never have know that other company exists, let alone made a watch that looks like the the AP RO. After I saw the offending watch, I don't think it does look like an RO except in the most general ways, although the judge felt it did.
So yes, I understand the ire that Rolex et al should have, but if it does bother them, they aren't doing much to stop the fakes from being made and sold. In light of that, I have to ask, how upset are they? As far as I can tell, the only reason high end watch companies take legal action is that they think they can get a lot of money for having done so. They don't seem at all concerned about actually stemming the production of outright. unabashed counterfeits.
Here are two Rolex lawsuits. They are for selling (judging by the headlines) counterfeit Rolexes.
You'll see a few more lawsuits for trade dress infringement here: http://springutlaw.com/successes/. Look at whom they sued. Is any one of the defendants a PRC fake watch maker? Every defendant seems to be a well known company or individual. But that's not who makes the overwhelming majority of fakes the millions of Chinese buy/wear.
Is one going to say that if the fake maker doesn't have Western visibility, notoriety and deep pockets, it doesn't matter?
All the best. |
I completely understand your point and well taken.
The fact is, the vast majority are made in China. Without the Chinese Government to back the watch makers, there's no way they can stop the source. Therefore, they have to attack the sellers.
This is the same way counterfeit drugs are being made in China. I'm sure you'd have a problem taking heart medication that ended up being gypsum board.
They also have to contend with online retailers, which they are going after, but is difficult as well.
To say the Swiss watch manufacturers aren't taking it seriously is not true. This has been a thorne in their side for a long time and they are very much so trying to stop it. Like I said earlier, with the Chinese Government involved, they are very limited in how much they can do.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/arielada...plica-watches/
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/fake-wat...ccess/37630748
http://www.thelocal.ch/20130409/swis...counterfeiters
https://swissluxewatches.com/famous-...ounterfeiting/
http://www.fhs.ch/eng/homepage.html