Hi guys. I haven't been on here for a while but thought I would share some findings today. There is a company out of China calling itself EPR International. They are copying any and all parts which seem to be doing well. Thus far I have found my Cayman rear diffuser and side skirts listed on eBay, Amazon and Alibaba. Now there is not much I can do about them buying and copying my product but they don't even have the brains not to use my original pictures in the listings. I have been in touch with eBay and Amazon and reported the use of copyright protected material. I have also started the legal process to protect my copyright materials from being used.To the guys at PDP, from looking at EPR's site I would say your Cayman rear spoiler is another piece they have copied. Better check if they aren't using your pictures as well to advertise.It is very easy to find the name of the principle involved with this company and I would suggest to the manufacturers out there not to sell to this wonderful gentleman knowing what will happen to your parts.Have a great day everyone !
Received a phone call yesterday from a gentleman in Florida. He makes 997 parts and has his pieces copied. From his checking around the principle of this wonderful Chinese company is shopping around North America looking for products which are selling well, sending them back to China to be copied. This now includes all makes and models.Sadly the idiotic government in this country wants to enter into free trade negotiations with China. This would make it even easier for companies like this to dump even cheaper products into to country.
Sadly (Simplifying the issue a bit) that's no different deferent than thousands people learning software, hardware engineering from unauthorized Foriegn centers only to flood our work force, whether physically or remotely, and taking hundreds of thousands of jobs from US workforce.
It's the price we have to pay for a global market.
Is it wrong or even illegal, obviously.
Can we stop it. Nope
Corporations love margins and they truly don't care how thy achieve them. You talked about China. Ha!! How do you strong arm a global economic and manufacturing force who you have been borrowing hundreds of Billions of dollars for 25+ years.
. Political sound bites only get people in polling stations. They don't have any place on the street And real world.
We just have hundreds of millions of dollars to corporations without even asking them to make any cut backs on outsourcing or asking them to hire full time American workers Vs contractors
Sad all around. Not meant to be a political post. Just what has been happening for last 25 + yrs.
As long as the knockoff is safe, well made , and cheap, it will sell on eBay like loads of other knock off products.
Sorry to hear someone is profiting off your hard work. Best of luck, hopefully Amazon / eBay side with you and make things right.
-Mike S
I sit on the Board of a company that is considering an expansion globally. I have cautioned the CEO that as soon as he gets outside of the U.S., patent, copyright et al rights are essentially worthless. While he cannot prevent being ripped off here by the process mentioned in this thread, not doing business in companies that regularly violate rights is wise.
Sorry to hear about this Joe. You make a great product, so I guess it was bound to happen eventually.
Hopefully this doesn't affect your customer base, and they'll realize the knockoffs vs authentic. I've been eyeing your splitter and dive planes for awhile now, and I'll make sure to contact you directly when the time comes!
That's pretty much a standard MO for chinese companies. When I was researching making things in China - everybody pretty much said, that if your product does well - it's pratically guaranteed that the manufacturing company will start selling it on a side... The only way to stay ahead is to provide excellent customer service, which they can't do, innovate to stay ahead, and keep knoking off their postings from us websites. While it might be difficult to prove they are copying your product - using your pictures is clearly illegal, there is no if about it. And ebay and amazon should not take it lightly
My, we do paint the entire planet with a rather broad brush! I've worked in the U.S., Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and China. While I agree that China is a big problem when it comes to intellectual rights and outright knockoffs of legitimate products, to suggest that this problem exists everywhere maligns countries with, in some instances, protections certainly equal to afforded in the U.S.. At the end of the day, this boils down to consumer choices. We each make a difference individually - with the U.S. often the largest market for these goods, the problem starts at home.
