In terms of their low quality, you're correct. But here's what I said: "I vowed never to consider one and to advise others against them because of their unethical practice of copying the exterior design of other companies' humidors." It's their being blatant copies, not the low quality, that prompted my commitment. The quality issue is ultimately a personal decision that each consumer needs to make. I'll certainly do my part in warning people about the inferior quality and the likelihood of compromised function, but that's not why I mentioned protectionism.
I fully agree with you. The only protectionism I would like to see however is the following.
I would like to see our children educated in what intellectual property is and that stealing it is the same as stealing someone's physical property.
I would like our laws reformed so that ornamental design on useful objects are copyrightable.
I would like to see copyright, trademark, and patent infringement be criminalized and those who do it be charged with felonies.
I would also like to see intellectual property laws reformed so that it's harder to register but comes with true protection. The kind of protection where people who display knockoffs face very real arrest if they don't have proof that they are selling authorized goods when the police show up.
I would love it if we lived in the type of world where if you sell copies of Meucci cues on Ebay then your warehouse can be raided and you can be arrested and all your goods destroyed.
Actually we do live in that sort of world now in SELECT instances.
In order for this to work now the IP owner has to register EACH product with US Customs for a per product fee. Then customs will investigate claims made by the IP owner and seize counterfeit goods.
However the problem occurs when the products in question are NOT direct knockoffs and don't carry the same trademarked brand name. When they are very close then it becomes a civil matter between two companies.
It's kind of a sad world in this respect.
I had a factory owner here tell me that it's not his business to go and find out who is the originator of the products he is presented with. His job is to make the products that customers bring to him and not worry about the legalities of it. I can't really fault that thinking when I look at it from his perspective of having a factory that needs to keep running.
Even in the USA I can go to any number of factories and have them make products for me and they don't question whether I have the right to make them or not.
You're right, it's the importers and their dealers who are the perpetrators in this continuing sadness that is duping the consumers. No animal is as vicious to other animals as humans are to each other. I get depressed thinking about it.
What I do now to combat it is to realize the only way to win is to just innovate, don't rest on any designs, and stay ahead. I market to the people who want the newest and the best.
