I have always been an advocate for opposing counterfeit or fake designs (replica’s) of branded named products. But this doesn’t mean I don’t understand the value of counterfeiting of course. Counterfeiting is big business; if you haven’t seen the movie “To live and Die in LA” excellent points are taken from this illegal business. Greed is one; making serious money without real working habits is another reason that drives this illegal industry.

Personally I’ve been plagiarized with my designs before by verbatim. This is where the seriousness of the issue lies. Everyone gets inspired from others and modifies this or that; we see it in cars and clothing and many other products as well all the time. But to make an item exactly like another’s is called faking it. To make a product exactly like another’s and including their name on the product is called counterfeiting. And this is where the real problem lies.

Many well established companies look at it from a positive perspective of flattery and I can see why, and I’m sure you can to. I’m a small private label designer trying to become more established, and when I saw my design verbatim with another’s name on it, I felt like I was in the big times. Think about it, there are thousands of watch companies out there, and I was plagiarized, yes I had mixed emotions, but honestly, I was flattered to extreme excitement! I’m too small of a company to fight that off. But from a larger picture and living in a reality of business minded thinking, it sucks to say the least while holding back my tongue for more explicit expletives.

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