Hong Kong tolerates copy cheats because people don’t appreciate what we do, designers complain

In 2001, Douglas Young, founder of local lifestyle retailer Goods of Desire (G.O.D.), designed a set of three stackable shelves incorporating curved corners. He was the first retailer in the world to have such a design. It was soon copied globally.

This was not the first time the Hong Kong-based entrepreneur had seen his designs and products copied. Young has been struggling with the issue since the day his business launched. And it is not only street hawkers trying to make a fast dollar – major brands are engaged in copying designs.

Young was unable to patent the design of the stackable shelves as it was seen as “a generic shape”, he said.

“Ever since that happened I felt that it was necessary for our company to do designs that are more specific,” he said. “So if someone were to copy it we could claim that it was not generic.”

The founder and CEO of Native Union, Igor Duc, lamented how counterfeits of his products almost put him out of business four years ago, after the design of a popular home telephone was copied.

“Our customers were being sold much cheaper products and thought they were ours. We had to start taking legal action, and with legal action it’s very expensive and time consuming,” he said.