NO ANGEL: This Angeldis website, aimed at the Chinese domestic market, carries pages of designs lifted straight from the Libidex website, and even uses the Libidex name. It is also using stolen images from other western designers
Libidex copied for Chinese home market
Libidex has become embroiled in a Chinese counterfeiting saga with a difference — this time the copycat in question is angling to sell Libidex copied latex clothing to the Chinese home market.
A business calling itself Angeldis Latex has set up a web store on a Chinese eBay-style platform, with pages and pages of latex fashions shamelessly lifted straight off the Libidex.com site. The firm is even using Libidex’s name to promote the garments.
This could suggest that marketing by Chinese pirates in the west has stimulated a domestic market for latex that did not previously exist. Or it could just mean successful anti-piracy campaigns by western labels have made it more difficult for the pirates to do business in the west.
When we spoke to Libidex director Nigel Walker, he told us that Libidex had not yet gone to the potentially very costly lengths of instructing Chinese lawyers to act on its behalf against Angeldis.
“However,” he said, “we now have a very useful Chinese contact who is acting for us and has actually visited the people hosting this shop in Shanghai, and we are gathering evidence now for him to send to them.
“They have indicated that they will take action against the shop on the basis of the evidence we provide of infringement. He’s also able to translate the site for us, which could be useful if any more domestic Chinese sites pop up copying designs.”
Nigel added that Libidex is also in the process of registering its name and trademark in China so that it can stop these and other sites using its name.
“Yet another expense, but necessary we think, as this sort of thing is bound to spread unless we do something about it.”
He pointed out that Angeldis is also using images from quite a few other latex designers — “Simon O for one, I’m pretty sure” — and thought such people would want to “know who Angeldis are in case they want to take action against them”.
However, while it’s true that this particular Angeldis site is aimed at the domestic Chinese market and doesn’t deliver outside China, this doesn’t mean the firm is not chasing customers in the west as well.
The same company also has a west-facing site, ostensibly US-based, on which pirated Libidex images also appear (albeit manip- ulated and cropped in an attempt to disguise them) alongside many other latex designs that look strangely familiar.
On this rather cheesy looking site, the company describes itself as a leading athletic retailer of brand name footwear, apparel and accessories which also serves the fetish, BDSM and cosplay scenes.
Wednesday, 2 July 2014
Tags: Clothing, Latex, Legal, Retail
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