Knock off parts
 

Also posted in car talk, thought it fits in here also given nature of the information. Deals with stopping knock off parts.. Update via SEMA, enjoy.



Recent update regarding knock off parts via SEMA.

GOVERNMENT AND INDUSTRY EXPAND EFFORTS TO STOP COUNTERFEITERS

Officials representing seven United States Government agencies traveled to Europe in June to meet with their foreign counterparts. The meetings are part of the Bush Administration

damn, vis and seibon out of business? what about andy's autosport? they'll have to come up with their own original designs?! Say it ain't so.... :LOL: :LOL:

I hate knockoff parts, even though I have an Amuse knockoff front lip on my S2000. If only Amuse would make it in poly!?!?!

Thats encouraging news to hear!

A lot of people try to turn the discussion of authentic vs. knockoff parts into a JDM vs. USDM discussion when that really has nothing to do with it. The argument of "why pay an arm and a leg for something from overseas when i can pay under half of its price for a knockoff here" is used a lot, especially from those without enough of an eye for detail to see that the real deal is of higher quality.

Even if you don't bring the quality difference into the equation, the designs are still stolen. I'm all for US companies coming up with their own unique designs and creating innovative products. If their quality starts to exceed that of the JDM stuff then they'll have a convert in me :)

It would be nice to see this initiative gain momentum!

[QUOTE=1AP12NV,Jun 16 2005, 05:45 AM] Thats encouraging news to hear!

A lot of people try to turn the discussion of authentic vs. knockoff parts into a JDM vs. USDM discussion when that really has nothing to do with it.

Yeah my personal beef with the "style" hoods is two fold:

1) The weave quality does matter to me (thats personal preference I admit, but its a big factor for me).

2) The "style" hoods are straight up rip-offs of other's intellectual property and I have problems with that.

Personally I think that our hoods (I got rid of my older J's hood and got the newer J's hood, which I think you have as well right JsAP1?) look of much higher quality in person. Its a qualitative assessment on my part, but when you set them side by side the quality difference is very apparent (and important to me). But hey thats only on my ride.

If someone doesn't want to spend that much on a hood far be it from me to bash them.

Seibon for example makes some nice carbon hoods (for the price), now all they have to do is come up with original designs instead of stealing other's intellectual property ;) I think they actually have one custom design that isn't a knock off, and an OEM style one too.

And thats only carbon... don't get me started on some of the cheap badly fitting fiberglass bodykits :p It's a shame too because then when someone sees one of the knockoffs that doesn't fit well or just looks "off" and the owner passes it off as the real C-West/J's/Ings/etc... it ends up being bad publicity for the companies that do spend the money and time to come up with original creative designs :)

I think enforcement of the issue is going to be the biggest challenge as the violators span across different nations.

James

True and this isn't an issue that is singular to the import tuning industry either. Look at the problems Microsoft is facing with the pirating of its software in third world countries.

One major difference is that Microsoft is large enough to survive such damage. If this knock off thing goes un-checked for too long, we're going to see less and less companies producing and exporting innovative products.

You are correct though in that enforcement becomes difficult. I think thats why there has been a recent rash of JDM companies settting up USDM based branches so that they *do* have some legal recourse...

all i have to say is thank god someone is trying to put an end to this..

There is a difference between a knock off and a counterfiet. A knock off is a copy of a design, i.e. a CF hood with similar details. A counterfeit is an attempt to pass off an object as the original. A crappy quartz watch with the Rolex crown and the Rolex name on it is a counterfeit. A crappy quartz watch that looks identical to a Rolex with no name, crown or other trademarked items is just a crappy watch.
The problem lies with copyrighting a shape, which is next to impossible in any country.