Counterfeit goods

WLC

I have another question if anyone can help.

I'm trying to find out if the wig I received from an online purchase is considered counterfeit.

The seller used the exact image of the 'Sandie' wig by Rene of Paris, (copyright of Rene of Paris, who are aware of this company doing this and are not affiliated with them at all!), but the seller has not stated in the add that it's Rene of Paris.[/U]

Does that mean it IS or IS NOT a counterfeit product?

Maybe as they havnt stated its Rene of Paris, it isn't considered counterfeit. But Rene of Paris are a highly renowned brand. So to those familiar with Rene of Paris wigs, it's the equivalent of seeing a shirt with the famous 'white tick' and assuming it's Nike, without seeing the word Nike listed in the product title.

chancesare_2

If you keep all your questions on the one thread it will be easiest. Starting new threads each time is not helpful. People need to know the story behind this.

earthstorm

Could be counterfeit or the seller may have purchased the wigs from a wholesaler that stocks wigs by Rene of Paris and rather than photograph the wigs and upload the images he has either gone onto the Rene of Paris site and copy/pasted images or used the google images feature to find images of the wings.

RFW

There are some oddities here. Some 'fake' stuff is allowed provided they aren't being passed off as something else.
So I can sell a copy of a Rolex watch for a fiver as long as it doesn't have 'Rolex' or their logo stamped on it. Whether Rolex sue for breach of copyright is another matter but as far as consumer law goes that is fine.

It really depends on how misled you may have been. A Trading Standards officer would probably know.

earthstorm

RFW wrote: »

There are some oddities here. Some 'fake' stuff is allowed provided they aren't being passed off as something else.

what do you mean?

some wholesalers do sell genuine (sold manufactured stock).

It works like this. A company lets take Rene of Paris and their 'Sandie' wig will go to their manufacturer and say order 10,000 of these wigs, but like everything manufactured, there will always be imperfects, so in order for their client to get their 10,000 wigs, they may product 12,000 wigs to cover any imperfect ones, so at the end of the run the lest say have 1,100 wigs left, so as the client has no need for them, they just sell these to wholesalers at a reduced price

WLC

Chancesare: Apologies for starting a new thread about this, I thought that would be best, but I stand corrected.

Re: the seller purchasing the wigs from the wholesaler, Rene of Paris and their authorised dealers have confirmed with me that this company have no permission to use their images or produce imitations of their wigs. They are currently fighting to have their site shut down but I believe they are fighting a bit of a losing battle with the China based company.

I spoke to Action Fraud today re: whether the wig is considered counterfeit if they have used an image from Rene of Paris but not stated its Rene of Paris. According to action fraud it is NOT counterfeit, but instead is a consumer issue, of which they pointed me to citizens advice. Gee thanks.

Interesting to know you can steal a copyright image and produce cheap imitations and get away with it! No wonder we live in a deceitful world!!

RFW

WLC wrote: »

Interesting to know you can steal a copyright image and produce cheap imitations and get away with it! No wonder we live in a deceitful world!!

If the owner doesn't do anything about it. It's the same as any theft really, if the owner isn't bothered then the person who steals it can do what they like with it.

earthstorm

if a company does not what their images used then they can place a copyright images on every image and place codes on their sites that stop anyone from right clicking etc. and copying their images.

RFW

earthstorm wrote: »

what do you mean?

some wholesalers do sell genuine (sold manufactured stock).

It works like this. A company lets take Rene of Paris and their 'Sandie' wig will go to their manufacturer and say order 10,000 of these wigs, but like everything manufactured, there will always be imperfects, so in order for their client to get their 10,000 wigs, they may product 12,000 wigs to cover any imperfect ones, so at the end of the run the lest say have 1,100 wigs left, so as the client has no need for them, they just sell these to wholesalers at a reduced price

What does any of that have to do with fakes as the OP was asking about?
You're talking about delabelled 'seconds' presumably. Whether the OP was asking about these is unclear, it is possible though.

earthstorm

RFW wrote: »

What does any of that have to do with fakes as the OP was asking about?
You're talking about delabelled 'seconds' presumably. Whether the OP was asking about these is unclear, it is possible though.

it shows that they may not be fakes even delabelled 'seconds' are not fakes and can legally be sold.

if they are delabelled 'seconds' then the issue comes if you state that they are XX company. overrun products as what i explained it all depends on the item if labels can be removed. I know that one of my wholesales sell overun Asda/Tesco products, but as these are in marked containers the names cannot be removed, but you can sell these cheaper than the supermarkets. but with wigs i dare say it will just be a printed tag that can be cut off.

RFW

earthstorm wrote: »

it shows that they may not be fakes even delabelled 'seconds' are not fakes and can legally be sold.

if they are delabelled 'seconds' then the issue comes if you state that they are XX company. overrun products as what i explained it all depends on the item if labels can be removed. I know that one of my wholesales sell overun Asda/Tesco products, but as these are in marked containers the names cannot be removed, but you can sell these cheaper than the supermarkets. but with wigs i dare say it will just be a printed tag that can be cut off.

I think we're agreeing with each other. I dealt in relabelling some products for a few years. I wasn't aware that's what the OP meant.

Whether you can sell with the original label depends on the rights owner. A company used to get seconds from a big retailer and ended up losing the contract by selling them on to a wholesaler who gave the game away.