This blog featured a post about a dispute between Ferrari and a customer who extensively modified a genuine Modena 360. The thrust of the claim by Ferrari was that the modification resulted in a non-genuine car that should be stripped of the recognized car maker's logo. This blogger argued that the demand for a genuine purchaser of a item to alter his property by accommodating the demand for removal of that logo is at odds with the right of the purchaser to utilize his property in accordance with his wishes. Having sold the vehicle and received its full value, there ought not be any further demands on the manner of its use and modification.
It appears that that that was an even simpler case because there is now a fake Ferrari P4 made in Thailand that is on display in Brussels. The interesting bit from the story is that this is an imitation of the classic model and is run on a Subaru engine. On this occasion, there may be a weak case for limiting the ability of the constructor of the fake Ferrari to pass off. the surprising fact though is the wholesale conflation of the dangers of pirated goods and the false analogies with fake medicines. That the Authentics Foundation has to use a fake Ferrari to make the case for counterfeit drugs is an exhibition of the weakness for stricter IP claims especially regarding electronics and other goods. the connection that is being suggested here is spurious because counterfeit medicine is harmful not because its manufacture are intent on undercutting excessively priced branded names.
In my reading, the broad trend here is that as technology improves, there will be individuals with the ability to create imitation products and that their number will continue to rise. what is clear is that the corporations such as Ferrari would spend their money to improve the recognition of authentic products and spend less money and time on fighting the aspirational imitators. Indeed, public resources should be used sparingly in the quest to fight product piracy. As for the aggrieved corporations, I am unconvinced that these fake Ferrari's really hurt either the sales or the image of the authentic ones. To insist on wiping them out and making analogies with dangers to health from fake drugs is the disingenuous quest to extend the reach of IP regimes. As it is, any purchaser of expensive and genuine products could affordably verify authenticity by starting with the tips at the Authentics Foundation site.
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3 comments:
The 'fake Ferrari' that was shown at the 'Fakes Co$t More' expo in Brussels on Monday (10th March) was not 'made in Thailand'. It was a pretty ropey looking example of a (Lee) Noble P4 replica, built in the UK, from a UK kit available between 1986 and 1992. Trust me on this. I run the worldwide register for these things. The 'Authentics Foundation' who organised this expo have managed to obtain one of these cars, and are falsely mis-describing the car as 'made in Thailand' in their efforts to gain more publicity for their global anti-counterfeiting campaign. Unfortunately the picked the wrong car to do it with, and I will be making every effort to make the public aware of this deception.
If you want to read up more on this, my exposé of their fake Ferrari P4, and see lots of photos of this car, go to www.FerrariChat.com. Scroll down to the 'General Discussion' (not model specific)' section. Thread is entitled 'Fake Ferrari ring busted'. The good stuff starts on page 4. I'll try and paste a URL link into this post.
http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=187683&page=4
The original intent of the post was my contention that the overstatement of the facts and presentation of poor analogy neither aids nor makes necesary more stringent IP protection. It does not help to try to give the impression that pircay is more pronounced than it really is and its effects are far worse than they may be merely to create alarm. It matters not whether that car is really a fake Ferrari or a fake fake one. The point is that I think that such products will inevitably lead to attempts to make fakes because of their limited circulation and cost. A "fake Ferrari" does not have the same damaging effects on the market as fake drugs would on a patient's health. So the rush to use this analogy is suspect. Anonymous has a point.
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