The two calmed down, took a deep look at the shop, and drove away.
In less than two days, Jiang Yizhi's friend helped her buy a embroidered kimono with a dragon and phoenix design, and also took two rolls of film, taking sixty or seventy photos of the embroidered kimono and cheongsam.
The owner of the newly opened Zhongai Yisheng high-end fashion store has also been identified; it is a shop owned by the Lin family.
Xie An and Xie Xun had been running around looking for suitable factory buildings and land for the past few days. When they received the news from Chen Jing and Jiang Yizhi, they were quite exasperated.
When Ji Xia came home from school, she saw several people arguing loudly in the wholesale hall in the front yard, and she couldn't help but peek inside suspiciously.
"Ah Xia, come in, something's happened."
Chen Jing beckoned with his finger, and Ji Xia patted the snowflakes off her shoulder, then walked in carrying her design sketchbook.
"What's wrong? Did you two have a fight? You're both red in the face."
Seeing that the four young men, each with their own distinct characteristics, all looked angry and resentful, Ji Xia was surprised: "Why can't you talk things out? If there's anything wrong, just say it. Don't let a small matter ruin your brotherhood."
"You're overthinking it. We're not arguing about anything. This matter is also related to you. Come and take a look!"
Chen Jing beckoned her over, then handed her a thick photo album and a brand-new Xiu kimono on the table.
Ji Xia took the photo album and looked at Xiu's kimono with a puzzled expression. The design and patterns on the kimono gave her a very familiar feeling, as if she had designed it, but it didn't seem like her design.
The dress features a stand-up collar, five-bat buttons on the front, and a gold-embroidered phoenix on the shoulders. It has a cinched waist, and the skirt is slightly different from the horse-face skirt.
She suddenly realized with astonishment that the horse-face skirt she designed had eight panels in total, and this was six of them.
Looking at the lining fabric label, Ji Xia used a subtle pattern to design her favorite English logo. This kimono, however, doesn't even have labels indicating the fabric or size.
However, the overall design, fabric, and embroidery techniques are actually quite similar.
The fabric used is also silk, and the overall curves are slightly different, but you can still tell that the person imitating is also from the same industry.
As for embroidery, it's normal for there to be some differences. Not to mention other things, even in their embroidery workshop, the skills of a dozen or twenty embroiderers can be divided into at least four levels.
The exquisite details, such as dragons and phoenixes, flowers and birds, must have been made by the most skilled female craftswomen. Even the silk threads were split into eight or four sections, making them as fine as cow hair, making them even more realistic.
However, in the most easily overlooked areas, the thread used was not split, and the embroidery was done by a novice.
The embroidery on the kimono in front of me is of a similar quality overall.
"Where did this kimono come from?"
Jiang Yizhi raised an eyebrow: "You're quite capable, being able to tell at a glance that it wasn't your design?"
Ji Xia winked at Chen Jing: "Do you have any of our Xiu kimonos? Pick one at random, and I'll show you the differences."
Chen Jing retrieved several orders completed that day from the warehouse and carefully placed them, still in their packaging, on the table.
"What do you mean? How can I tell you're different?"
Ji Xia flipped open the lining of the dress: "Let's take a look together, see what's different?"
"The fabric label, the materials, the proportions, and our brand logo are the differences that can be seen at a glance."
The three brothers stepped forward and compared them carefully, and suddenly realized what was going on.
Jiang Yizhi couldn't help but smile with delight: "Look, isn't this evidence? They don't even have this mark, which proves that their products are counterfeit. We can sue them, right?"
"I'm afraid that's not necessarily true."
Chen Jing smiled wryly upon hearing this, while Ji Xia's puzzled gaze swept over the group: "Could you explain where this kimono came from? What's going on?"
Chen Jing pointed to the photo album in her hand: "Take another look at the photos in this album?"
When Ji Xia opened it, she found it was full of embroidered kimonos. The styles and patterns were similar to her own designs, and the colors ranged from bright red, gold, silver, peach, and purplish-red, offering more options than she had chosen.
The patterns on the designs are mostly classical elements, and they are slightly different from each of their own patterns.
To be precise, it's like the real Li Kui encountering a fake Li Gui.
Chen Jing briefly explained what had happened, as well as their differing opinions.
Xie An, Xie Xun, and Jiang Yizhi were furious. They wanted a piece of the pie, but before they could even start, they discovered that someone else had already opened a shop.
Even the garment factory was taken over by someone else. They directly contracted a garment factory with over a thousand employees, recruited all the embroidery workers from the southeastern coastal areas, produced a large number of wedding dresses, and even opened a shop on Xiushui Street.
I heard that this is the first one on Xiushui Street. The Lin family has several stores under renovation in Beijing and Shanghai, and I heard they plan to open a few more branches.
Upon hearing this, Ji Xia couldn't help but smile bitterly. This was the difference between going it alone and working with a conglomerate. Even though they were the first to try something new, the fattest crab was still snatched away by someone else.
She flipped through the photo album, then looked up at Chen Jing: "What were you arguing about just now? What are you planning to do?"
Chen Jing was the richest man in the South in his past life. He must have dealt with this kind of problem countless times in his life. I wonder what he plans to do to solve it?
Actually, there's not much to solve. Following trends has always been the most common thing in China. Once a popular color or element is promoted, it becomes a basic item on the streets in less than a month.
Chen Jing glanced helplessly at his three companions: "They plan to take a group of people over to settle scores with Lin Chen..."
"Intimidation and assault are illegal!"
"Yes, that's what I think too."
Chen Jing gave her a helpless look. These three made up half of the Six Young Masters of Beijing, while he was just a country bumpkin from the south.
If something really goes wrong, everyone knows who will suffer, especially since the workshop is under his name!
"I was thinking, could we pursue legal action to hold them accountable? They're clearly copying us."
"Ji Xia, you're a designer, these are your works, what are your ideas?"
Four pairs of eyes stared at her expectantly, and Ji Xia could only offer a helpless, bitter smile.
Did they have intellectual property protection laws in the 1980s? She had to check. However, she remembered reading a report that a song called "My Chinese Heart" written in Hong Kong in the 1980s was popular in mainland China, but no copyright fees were received.
Xu Jingqing, who composed various opening and closing theme songs for "Journey to the West," did not receive any copyright fees. On the contrary, the singers who sang the closing theme songs for "Journey to the West" made a fortune.
So, are there any laws protecting intellectual property creations in this era?
He rubbed his forehead and said, "I'm thinking we need to find someone with a law degree to help us. As far as I know, there are intellectual property protection laws in other countries, but do we have any in China? If we do, we can sue them for infringement and plagiarism. If we don't, we're probably going to suffer this loss."
She had just finished speaking when she suddenly thought of a question: "By the way, have we registered our brand and our logo?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
