Chapter 587 The consequences of not paying attention to intellectual property rights
There are quite a few Chinese people who are very interesting. They would rather buy counterfeit foreign brands than domestic brands. On the one hand, this is because of vanity, and on the other hand, it is because the stereotype of domestic products being "counterfeit, old-fashioned, and of poor quality" is imprinted in the minds of many people.
In fact, there is another reason for this, which is that domestic products themselves are not living up to their expectations.
Xiao Peng bought Feiyue sneakers in France. These were once known as "Shaolin Temple training shoes." Forty or fifty years ago, they were undisputedly "China's top shoe." However, as time passed, before the rise of "national fashion" in China, they were long dismissed as "migrant workers' shoes." But how much do these shoes cost in France? The cheapest ones cost over 50 euros, while the most expensive ones are over 100 euros. Just how popular are these shoes in France, and indeed across Europe? There are over 160 Feiyue stores across France! There's a Feiyue store in every city.
Xiao Peng was very excited at first. He thought that he must support the popularity of Chinese products abroad, so he bought a lot of them and wore them almost every day.
But later he found out that these shoes actually had nothing to do with China, but were a "French local brand".
The story of Feiyue is similar to that of Nike: when Nike sneakers were first created, Phil Knight went to Japan and brought the Japanese brand Onitsuka Tiger back to the United States, which later became Nike; the same was true for Feiyue: a French man named Patrice Bastien came to China to learn Kung Fu, fell in love with Feiyue sneakers at first sight, and then ran to Da Bowen Shoes, the owner of the Feiyue brand at the time, saying that he wanted to sell Feiyue abroad and pay Da Bowen an agency fee every year.
I guess Da Bowen felt that "Leap" was half dead, so he directly authorized the overseas use rights of "Leap" to Bastian.
What happened next was quite magical. In 2009, Feiyue in China could no longer hold on and declared bankruptcy. As a result, people only then discovered that Feiyue had become a popular sneaker abroad!
Moreover, when Bastian brought the "Feiyue" sneakers back to France, he was surprised to find that "Feiyue" had not been registered as a trademark in various European countries. It was simply God forcing him to make a fortune, so he directly registered the "Feiyue" trademark in France and other places. Under the provisions of the trademark protection law, China's "Feiyue" has now lost the right to sell to overseas regions. If China's "Feiyue" exports shoes to France and other countries where Bastian has registered the trademark, the customs can directly intercept them and determine them as counterfeit goods.
It’s not that Feiyue had no legal battles with Bastian in China, but in the early years, it did not attach importance to intellectual property rights and lacked evidence of export, so it lost the lawsuit. Later, Bastian directly bought the trademark rights of Feiyue in the entire European Union.
What is even more amazing is that Bastian said: "In order to protect the brand image that I have worked so hard to build, and to prevent Feiyue from becoming a target of Chinese copycats, all improvements, designs, and production of Feiyue will be completed in France in the future, and will never be outsourced to China."
As a result, "Feiyue" no longer had a foothold in Europe, and the Chinese "Feiyue" with a long history became a copy of the French "Feiyue" here.
When Xiao Peng knew about this, he was also very angry and wanted to burn the French "Feiyue" shoes he bought. However, the Chinese people's habit of "hardship and simplicity" made him feel that it was a pity to do so, so he gave all the French "Feiyue" shoes he bought to the beggars on the streets of Marseille.
On the one hand, it is to "help others", and on the other hand, it is also to make things difficult for France's "leap": the beggars on your streets are wearing your shoes!
But what happened next left Xiao Peng speechless: During that time, a "robbery fever" broke out on the streets of Marseille, targeting beggars wearing Feiyue sneakers, and the perpetrators were young people who liked Feiyue sneakers. This was exactly the same as the chaotic "hat-grabbing" and "shoe-grabbing" era in China decades ago.
This incident makes Chinese people very angry and think that what Bastian did is inhumane.
Those who think Bastian's actions are unconscionable don't actually have a conscience, but rather feel that way because the issue of warmth and peace of mind has nothing to do with them. Human nature is the most naked thing in the world. When a person is starving, cold, and naked, and can still uphold morality, that is conscience!
However, most people would choose survival first at that time.
Put yourself in his shoes. If Xiao Peng saw a product in France that was almost sold out and would become a hit in China, he would do the same thing as Bastian!
If Xiao Peng could really do something like this, I'm afraid most people in China would say he was "bringing glory to the country." Of course, there would also be people who would criticize Xiao Peng for being shameful and unkind, but there would definitely be more supporters.
In a nutshell: the butt determines the head.
From that time on, Xiao Peng also began to pay attention to the "national tide" trend. This is not because Xiao Peng is ignorant. After all, he lives in Europe, where suits and jeans are the mainstream, and the casual "national tide" trend is considered "non-mainstream." Since he lives here, how can Xiao Peng be too unconventional?
However, after learning about the current "national tide", Xiao Peng discovered that there are mainly two types of so-called "national tide".
The first type, which makes up the majority, is "aware of shame and then courage." They strictly control quality and follow trends to release new models. For example, the domestic brand Feiyue, after being tricked by Bastien, did not decline. Instead, it took advantage of the rise of the domestic trend to vigorously develop. Various joint models have been launched and received rave reviews. It is a true "second spring" for the brand.
The other type is the "broken jar, broken jar" type, thinking, "Didn't you tell us to copy? I'll copy to the end."
For example, the HuiX, another national shoe that rivaled the Feiyue, also rode the wave of the "national trend" to achieve new success. However, this approach went a bit awry. Whenever a new product was released, the HuiX would copy it. Buying a HuiX was essentially like buying Converse, Vans, Adidas, or Onitsuka Tiger—the style was simply copied with a different logo.
Even if they copy, it's safe. Just look at HuiX's equity penetration chart and you'll see they have connections. However, this kind of aggressive copying while using a "national brand" as a selling point is truly shameless.
If you want to do business with foreigners, you must pay attention to intellectual property rights.
Many people are disgusted by this: Why should we, the great Chinese people, abide by the standards set by foreigners?
But when they say this, have they ever thought about how they can make money from foreigners by not following their standards?
China's real development began with its entry into the WTO. The investment agreement negotiated with the EU this time represents new opportunities, but some rules and habits must be changed.
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