BRISBANE: A leading Brisbane men’s shoe designer is facing a David Vs Goliath battle after a Melbourne-based retailer allegedly knocked off one of his most popular boot designs.
Chris McCallum, owner/designer of Vein Wear shoes in the TCB Centre, Fortitude Valley claims the rival retailer has previously copied his shoe designs, but the latest knock-off was so blatant he was prompted to speak out.
“I was very upset when I saw it,” Mr McCallum said. “Our hand-made laser-cut Vein Wear floral motif has been replicated on the rival store’s shoe. It is very unique to our brand.
“They have no shame. They knock off all the big sellers and take none of the risk. They are basically vultures who cherry-pick your best work.”
The designer also said he was certain his larger rival copied his boot design, which he created in January 2008. The rival shoe was released in September, 2009.
Mr McCallum, who will open a second store in the city’s Brisbane Arcade early next year, said his phone calls to the rival store owner had gone unanswered.
He said he could not afford to sue the rival or register each of his designs with Federal Government body Intellectual Property (IP) Australia.
“I can’t meet the huge expense of registering each of our designs before we sell them,” he said. “We have so many designs on the go about 60 in all and are constantly creating new ones each week to keep things fresh and edgy.
“Basically, the smaller designer does lots of great original work but loses out.”
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Festival Brisbane director Lindsay Bennett said it was very hard for young emerging designers to avoid being ripped off.
“It’s incredibly challenging, even down to the point of safeguarding prints,” Mr Bennett said. “Young emerging designers simply can’t afford to register their designs to put safeguards in place to protect their intellectual property.
“Many national brands rip off each other so it’s very challenging on a local level in terms of protecting designs.”
Mr Bennett said there was a fine line between copying or “enhancing” a design.
“A point in case is the Vein Wear example,” he said. “Those two boots are still slightly different, so the larger designer can get away with the knock-off.”
Source:
http://city-news.whereilive.com.au/news/story/feeling-rather-down-at-heel/
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