Imitation – still the greatest form of flattery?

Fashion designers, electronics giants and even car manufacturers certainly don’t think so.

Just prior to the New York fashion week that started September 10, a report in the New York Times (registration required) revealed that the show was racking up viewership not just in the form of other designers and fashionista-wannabes.

Apparently, manufacturers and even retailers in the US had their tvs on too, eager to find out what people will be wearing next season… and getting a knock off design at a cheaper price to customers earlier than when it hits designer shelves.

Makers of the iPhone too undoubtedly read about a clone cousin emerging on Chinese soil a year ahead of its Asian launch. While reportedly a little buggy, it was at least compatible with local telco operators.

Automobile makers certainly weren’t spared uncanny similarities getting made in other factories. AP business news recently reported that the makers of BMW and DaimlerCrysler filed suit against Chinese automakers that produced cars too similar in design to their own.

While I’m sure their outrage echoes many other Western companies’ intent on retaining its intellectual property, (and I’m not one to dispute intellectual property) let’s take a step back and look at this from the other side of the coin.

I’m sure most consumers would love to be able to afford a cute Versace dress to match their Jimmy Choo heels and Balenciaga bag while yakking away on the latest mobile phone in the most expensive convertible, but unfortunately not everyone can be either an heiress of a large hotel chain or the adopted daughter of a 70’s R&B singer.

What do normal white-and-blue collared professionals turn to? Knock offs. And not just from China, but from places like Bangkok, sometimes affectionately known as the land of AAA quality imitation goods.

And why should Asian consumers (who are not Apple fans) wait a full year before Apple’s iPhone hits their shores when they can get one from local manufacturers at a cheaper price? Sure Mac-fans would fume at the thought (travesty!) but clearly the demand from non-Apple fans is strong enough to initiate a whole supply chain based on a copy.

Isn’t that what supply chains are about? Getting the product to the consumer just in time and at the most favourable price? Who’s to say a businessman is wrong for providing what people want and earning a few bucks along the way? Sure it might be considered stealing, but if that’s what consumers want, then that’s what consumers get… isn’t it?

An even larger headache is stopping these operations from taking place. I was in Beijing last year after reports said local police had shut down or banned shopowners from selling pirated goods (CDs, apparel, electronics etc), but I was hardly surprised when a shopkeeper waved me quietly into a little room at the back of the store to show me a treasure chest of pirated goods, telling me in mandarin to “bring my friends” next time I’m in town.

With lax laws at manufacturing sites millions of miles away from where the designer sits, coupled with competition from other more efficient supply chains, it’s definitely an uphill battle for companies battling to protect their intellectual property.