German bus maker MAN is suing the Chinese bus maker Zongda for virtually stealing (is that too harsh a word?) their original groundbreaking Starliner bus design.
This raises some interesting issues here: When does "being influenced by" cross the line and become a "direct rip-off," as we see this all the time in car design? ...And even if it is a rip-off, is that illegal? Does MAN have any patents, copyrights or trademarks here that may have been violated?
"A decision not in MAN's favour will most certainly have a negative impact on the value and meaning of intellectual property rights in China," a MAN company official said...
billt9 says:
12:50 PM, 10/19/06
I think it's pretty clear cut for most of us, the meaning of "influenced by", and "direct rip". No need to complicate the issue.
estreka says:
12:52 PM, 10/19/06
This is a great time to be an entrepreneur in China. I think I'll reinvent the wheel.
carlisimo says:
02:43 PM, 10/19/06
We notice it with cars, but it's true in a lot of other day-to-day items.
For example, many of the furniture and lighting fixtures you can get at Scandinavian Designs are ripoffs of originals that cost 5-10 times as much. And at IKEA you can get many of those for another half off.
Same story with eating utensils, and jewelry.
"Attack on Precinct 13" was a ripoff of a French movie, "The Departed" is a ripoff of a Cantonese movie, and "Take the Lead" is a ripoff of a Japanese movie.
A little closer to our realm are aftermarket wheels. Rota (from the Phillipines) makes decent, affordable wheels that are all copies of good, expensive and hard to find Japanese aftermarket wheels. There are lots of other copycat wheel makers, and a few (like Rota) actually have good reputations for quality.
Given the abuses (if you disagree with them) in those industries, I don't see anything changing in this case, either.
ateixeira says:
08:42 AM, 10/20/06
Pretty blatant rip-off. Sad, really.
This case will be heard in a Beijing court. Read: MAN will lose.
And that's too bad, because the Chinese manufacturers won't earn any respect on a global scale until they cease this balant copying. There are also twins of the Honda CR-V and the old Isuzu Rodeo (Landwind, they call it).
once_for_all says:
11:08 AM, 10/20/06
you wonder really, is it the chinese, or expats without ethics that bring in these product designs and commission the Chinese to make a copy?
I remember doing something like that with a custom bike frame--the original was English made and out of production, so I hired a local bike framer to make me one--with a few updated features.
It is a grey area, but "progress" and "competition" make this world operate.
saml says:
02:22 PM, 10/20/06
This shouldn't surpsise anyone who's dealt with Chinese companies in any field... Here's a post from almost two years ago with some pretty crazy photos of Chinese auto knockoffs:
http://paultan.org/archives/2004/12/05/china-pirates/
ew3074 says:
05:56 PM, 10/20/06
Well...I am so disappointed! I am Chinese. I couldn't imagine why they did that. I thought China was developing pretty darn fast, but it did not move in terms of pirates. DId they have no money to hire people to design a bus or there is no good designer in China? I don't think so. Hope one day, I COULD see China as good as the US
estreka says:
10:19 AM, 10/22/06
Actually ew3074 brings up a very good point. Aren't Chinese colleges booming right now? China should certainly have the talent to create (as opposed to recreate) designs.