e
Industrial Design Piracy Continues to Thrive, Plagiarus Continues to Fight It
Design piracy is not new, and since 1977 an organization called Action Plagiarus has been handing out annual "awards" to the most egregious copycats. For the 2011 Plagiarus Awards, top prize went to the Multifunctional Workbench rip-off seen above, which was originally designed by one German firm and nearly dead-copied by another. As for which photo is the real thing and which is the copy, they don't even say.
What's becoming a little scary is how closely the copies are able to mimic the originals. But as Hansgrohe-Axor points out in an e-mail blast following the blatant copying of their Focus S faucet by a Chinese manufacturer,
"...Our original product offers considerably more in terms of functionality, and it therefore represents greater value for the user," [says Richard Grohe.] In the case of the Focus S, this additional functionality consists of a flow limiter, for example, which reduces water consumption to five liters per minute, the QuickClean anti-lime scale function, and an integrated hot-water flow safety restriction.
"The makers of pirated copies generally hope to be competitive on the basis of low cost," says the Deputy Chairman of Hansgrohe. "They therefore invest little in the functionality and quality of the products. Usually it is the consumer who is disadvantaged. Consumers will always be better off choosing the original product."
If you guys think ID piracy is bad now, just wait until 3D scanners and RP become truly ubiquitous. And eventually, some manufacturer will get really meta and make knock-offs of those too.
-
oFavorite This
-
Q4Comment
Directory Company Profiles
Core77
Industrial Design
Resources
Industrial Design
Resources
-
Core77 Directory
Find the Best Industrial Design CompaniesGo -
Copenhagen Institute of Interaction DesignCopenhagen Institute of Interaction Design (CIID) is an international hub of creative minds. We shar...
-
Card79
CARD 79 gives form to future states by converging strategy, brand, and design. We excel in technical...
-
Bruce Mau Design
BMD is a multidisciplinary brand and design studio. At BMD, we are here to move organizations forwar...
-
Project Duo
Project Duo brings proven innovation and key assets to clients of all sizes. From mom and pop busine...
-
Sundberg-Ferar | Product Innovation Studio
Sundberg-Ferar, a product design firm, helps the world's leading durable product companies to turn c...
-
Bluemap Design
BlueMap design is a multi-disciplinary product development firm. Founded by Simon Yan in 2001, the f...
-
Tactile
Tactile is a product and UX design firm founded in 2004. Blending physical and digital design, we cr...
K
{Welcome
Create a Core77 Account
Already have an account? Sign In
By creating a Core77 account you confirm that you accept the Terms of Use
K
Reset Password
Please enter your email and we will send an email to reset your password.
Comments
I know, it's sad, but... Did anybody ever thought copies would really copy the original, come on... cost is a good clue to understand something is different... would you buy "ready made injected moulded" baked beans?..
right (or below): plagiarism"
- from the Plagiarius web site.
Which is pretty obvious when you have a chance, like here, to look at each pair closely.
Thanks for posting this. Now I know why some things I run across in the real world give me a feeling of "wow, there's some really sophisticated design thought in there ... so why does it feel just wrong, just crappy?" It's because I'm only seeing the item on the right -- the "we don't get it" bottom feeder rip-offs of someone's genuinely good design.