If you thought counterfeiters could only extend their bootleggy reach as far as cheapo handbags and dodgy tech – hoo boy, are you in for a surprise.
Tori Best is the latest Australian to discover her entire brand has been knocked off and flogged overseas, preventing her from taking the real product to market. Best’s dairy label Farmer Brown’s has been copied in its entirety, and the faux Aussie goodies are being sold China under the same name.
She told the ABC “We had [the logo] designed by an in-house studio in Melbourne… We were going to look at exporting milk and ice cream products to China. The push was to align ourselves with manufacturers in Australia.”
With little to take to Chinese authorities to assert their hold on the original branding – and since the fake products had already entered the market – the entire brand has effectively been pirated.
That’s barely the tip of the knock-off iceberg, though: China also hosts several other sliiightly suspicious stores, including fake Apple stores, KFC, and even Disneylands.
Just another fake Apple Store with the 27? iMac running latest and greatest…Windows 10! pic.twitter.com/5GbSWH69OB
— Salem Sayed (@salemsayed) November 30, 2015
It’s not yet known what options Best has to contest the trademark pilferers, but the outlook doesn’t look great. At least there’s the knowledge that her company doesn’t have to nick another’s image to succeed, right?
