| Larry asked me to comment on what I see in the import business.
Intellectual property rights are a hot issue in Washington and US Customs closely monitors the importation of copyrighted items and intellectual materials. The Far East is heavily into illegal copying of many items and unethical importers will attempt to sneak these infringement articles past customs.
An example would be (and I have handled this exact situation) a plastic toy car or truck may come in and it looks like no real vehicle and has no Ford or other trademarked auto maker logo on it. That is fine, but if the tires say Firestone or Goodyear or other trademarked tire manufactuere, without an agreement with the trademark holder, Customs will seize the items and will issue monetary penalties against the importer.
A few years ago, I had a real stinker of an importer come in. I knew he was not on the level but against my better judgement, we attempted to handle his imports or wearing apparel. The problem was, his supposed own logo bore an uncanny resemblence to a VERY famous shoe manufacturer's a leaping man. It was just reverse imaged.
Customs had fun with that one, an immediate seizure and a large fine. It seems the trademark owner had lawsuits against the importer on the trademark infringement.
By the way, a customs broker can be held every bit as responsible as the importer and face large monetary penalties in these situations unless we show Customs we had used reasonable care in handling the situation.
Even though we are independent from the government, we are licensed and monotored by them and are we are required to first protect the revenue of the United States and then be responsible to our customer.
Many of you are wondering what the heck this has to do with the topic.
If it is trademarked or copyrighted and registered with Customs, anyone making or importing these items must have permission from the holder of the copyright or trademarked goods to do so. If the items are not protected, it's a wide open game.
Should some unscrupulous individual overseas be able to clone or copy - even legally - a Monette or GR or whatever mouthpiece right down the its shape, all American maufacturers will suffer greatly. Can you imagine a cheap copy of a Prana or GR mouthpiece costing only $25? Who in the US could compete against that?
That is what scares me
By the way on a much less serious note, back in the early 70's when I could not get a teaching job or a decent gig, a frequent visitor to the broker I worked for was none other than Mrs. Schilke herself. She would come to our office and pick up the needed docs to clear the parts Mr. S had ordered from........drum roll.........Yamaha.
She was a very delightful lady. |