Chase G asked:
My grandparents own a company that makes diaphragm’s. (No, not birth control. It’s something to do with brakes) All it is is little rubber disc’s. Recently, a customer in vietnam has contacted them and told them that someone is ripping off their product. They have THE EXACT same logos, and numbers…. as well as the company name “WRP” (Western rubber products). So my question is… Can they do anything about this? It’s international, and I’m not quite sure what the laws are regarding this.
oh course but what might be a problem is that you might have to take it to court in China
Comment by Mickey — October 22, 2007 @ 11:27 pm
Your grandparents need to speak with a top notch international patent infringement attorney. Obviously no amount of advice that can be given on this board is going to help your grandparents win the case.
This is a very difficult area and it varies from situation to situation. Your grandparents can sue the Vietnamese maker but since American courts don’t have jurisdiction there, the Vietnamese court would have to take up the case. This often doesn’t happen in East Asia (whereas in Britain, it often does. We have a much better relationship with Western Europeans on these types of things). The reason why piracy and patent infringement is such a huge problem for American companies in China is that China does a poor job of enforcing patents.
Good luck to you and your grandparents.
Comment by jkurz2008 — October 24, 2007 @ 11:36 pm