International auction houses have become victims of China's thriving art market, with the emergence of a stream of companies seemingly related to the world's big three - Sotheby's, Christie's and Bonhams.
Despite persistent legal action taken in Hong Kong and on the mainland, the pretenders keep appearing.
The latest cases uncovered include companies that take after London-based auctioneer Sotheby's, founded in 1744.
An advertisement for a Hangzhou , Zhejiang company literally known as Sufuby Art and Culture Planning/Curatorial was spotted in last month's issue of Collection World magazine on the mainland. The ad introduced Sufuby as an art consultancy specialising in Chinese antiques and works of art, featuring traditional Chinese characters instead of the simplified characters used on the mainland. The company's logo is of the same blue tone as Sotheby's.
Sufuby is pronounced the same way and uses the same Chinese characters as Sotheby's Chinese name, Su Fu Bi.
Another case is Beijing auction house Soft Bid, which calls itself Dong Fang Suo Fu Bi in Chinese, dong fang meaning 'eastern'.