Can Knock-Offs Knock off Your Business

Can Knockoffs Knock Out Your Business?

1. Identify the indirect and direct costs associated with firms’ attempts at protecting brand names, copyrighted material, and intellectual property.

• Firms’ attempts at protecting brand names include copyrighted material, and intellectual property includes the following indirect and direct costs: The massive expenses that come with come with legal investigations and court fees. Also, the big price tags associated with genuine R&D (research and development) e.g. the precise laser etching into product services with fine textures that consumers “can feel”. In addition, the loss of the integrity that comes with the name brand of the company. Finally, the loss of enormous time and money the firm has invested in going after the “little fish”.

1. Should firms focus their efforts and wage the battle against the firms manufacturing and selling counterfeit products or the customers that knowing/unknowingly purchase the goods? Why?

• Without a shadow of a doubt, firms should focus their efforts and wage battle against only the top reigning firms manufacturing and selling counterfeit products, because consumers knowing/unknowingly purchasing the goods does, if nothing else, does good free advertising.  Bill should instead, work on strengthening the Ruffin brand. As they say, “Imitation is the best form of flattery.” He can also increase retail presence in nations with economic upturns like China and Dubai. This way more single brand stores will emerge, and can assure customers that they are getting the real-deal Ruffin products. This route can help Ruffin’s goods to stand apart from its illegitimate counterfeit competitive counterpart.

1. Analyze Ruffin CEO, Bill Bronson’s attitude and approach to mitigate counterfeit products as compared to Director of East Asian sales and operations, Lily Wang. As a firm, how would you approach Ruffin’s current situation?

• I think that honestly as a firm director, I would try to approach the situation as Lily Wang did. She seemed like a top notch employee even from the CEO’s perspective; therefore I believe that she knows what she is talking about when she said, “These aren’t exactly lost sales.” Referring to all people wearing what looked like “Ruffin Coats”. Enlightening the CEO on how calling attention to the fakes doesn’t help, could very well be the most important factor encouraging sincere consumption.

1. What types of partners and 3rd party firms should Ruffin employ in order to lessen the financial costs associated with mitigation efforts?

• Ruffin should employ private investigative services and/or policed enforcement to lessen the financial costs associated with mitigations services because they can sift through the small deliveries at ports and locate the large fake imports in order to confiscate. Public outlets where distributors can supply products or services in an urban profitable environment would help to allocate capital and resources.