There is a huge piracy problem in China. Lots of western companies find that they can't sell their product in China because there is already a Chinese clone of the product. This was a big problem for Ferrero Rocher, that is until recently.The chocolate maker just won a long-fought lawsuit in China's Supreme Court against a Chinese company that copied Ferrero Rocher's famous, gold wrapped pralines. Montresor, the Chinese chocolate maker that was copying Ferrero Rocher, was ordered not only to stop but also to pay a token fine of €50,000.
A lot of people see this as welcome news. It could mean that China may be ready to adopt more fair marketing practices. I am all for local competition to global brands, but I think a copy cat company shouldn't be allowed to just piggy back on a famous product. The name brand put a lot of work into the brand that they've built. Like it or hate it, I think a company should profit on its own merits. Good luck, Ferrero Rocher.
4-14-2008 @8:03PM Fortunato said... FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, MONTRESOR!
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4-14-2008 @9:23PM seraph said... I was wondering what the Montressor version looked like. Here's a blog entry I found:
http://beijingnotebook.blogspot.com/2007/04/beijing-you-want-fake-italian-chocolate.html
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4-15-2008 @1:59AM Vincent said... @ Seraph
Kinda hilarious how seemingly everything, save for name/actual chocolate is copied.
I'm generally find knockoff clothing/general goods to be tolerable, but knock off food is simply pathetic.
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