Imitation/Replica Montblancs

[Juicyjones]

Am I missing something here? I am not aware of any MB pens that resemble any of the pens shown. They aren't replicas, they are just plain cheap pens that would only show up the owner of one of these pens as a wannabe cheapskate.

 

Besides it is illegal to sell such pens as MB's or Rolex's even if you say up front that they aren't real, it is still breaking laws to sell them.

 

Sadly nobody's going to get prosecuted because host countries in Asia regularly allow local companies to steal products, patents, identities, etc. from other countries (the US and Europe is specifically what I'm talking about), and simply refuse to do anything about it. The US government claims bureaucracy, inertia, nationalism, ad nauseum, but of course something might be done for a (HUGE) fee and legal bills in the millions. Usually a foreign company will approach a domestic one and ask for a license, and if the price is too high, they will just say sorry we're going to do it anyway thanks for your time. I have seen this first hand with a popular coffee chain here in Seattle copied in minute detail (except the quality of the product of course) by a Japanese company and we had zero recourse.

 

a large corporation will seek legal action and spend millions because that prevents others from doing the same. however if the company is relatively small then there are other ways to make it hard on the thieves. i'd dedicate one employee for 8 hrs a day calling on the retailers that buy the product to let them know they are infringing on your product. if they seem unmoved then you threaten to sue them, the retailer. the point is to make it too risky for them to bother and so they will stop retailing the product.

 

Actually since the huge majority of business in this country is small business, if you're grossing 10M a year and the thieves are rich established foreigners, there is literally nothing you can do because pursuing it will bankrupt you and you can feel awesome with your Pyrric victory if you do win in 10 years or so while you're signing the papers to sell your business to pay the fees. It's sad but true.

 

What's legal or not doesn't mean very much, without enforcement the law is a joke.

Edited March 21, 2010 by Juicyjones

[tmcneil82]

Hoink, is this why you see a lot of the ® after company names, but not a ©? Since they can't copyright the name, but they can reserve the type, font, color, etc? Just curious as i have started looking around at items in my house and have noticed this.

Btw, that was a wonderful post, thanks for sharing that great information.

[CS388]

Am I missing something here? I am not aware of any MB pens that resemble any of the pens shown. They aren't replicas, they are just plain cheap pens ...(edit)

 

Me, too. Never seen anything like them.

 

Disposable fashion item? If they even exist. Next year it will be something else.

 

Strong unwitting comedy on original site: # material:whole-cuprum# Remark: give box and explain book

 

Edited to try and include link - which I still can't manage

Edited March 21, 2010 by CS388

[penparadise]

Thank you HOINK for your thought and informations!

[MidnightBlue]

I like the "give box and explain book" bit in the blurb. They're $29 so were produced for probably 12: how good do you expect them to look: about the same as an Astin Martin DB9 made in Asia for $1500

Thanks

[Kalessin]

This thread has heavily explored the topic, but a number of posts had to be removed for forum rules violations.

 

This thread is closed.

Edited March 23, 2010 by Kalessin