Should I be upset about this? (2 Viewers)

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Apache

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I just saw these on another site and asked where they were bought from and if they knew this was one of my designs.

Here is the reply:
""cant reveal that but the people i buy from are not MSK nor do they have too many if any retail clients, most their clients are individuals that do not resell
mine aren't anything like yours, its just a general design.,..
where do you see these being sold at?""

Would you guys say this is a ripoff of my designs or should I just let it go?

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Would you guys say this is a ripoff of my designs or should I just let it go?

It will obviously be up to you and I am unsure of the exact legality, but if people think they can get away with this now then it could potentially snowball in the future with more designs/products. I would definitely consider consulting a professional.
 
I would agree it's a rip off.
 
I just looked through your site at the Poker Plaques and Jetons section and I don't see anything that looks super similar. Can you either post a pic or a link to what you think they are copying?
 
At the end of the day it is going to come down to how much you care. If you do have any sort of legal ground to stand on it will take money and time to enforce it. How many of these are you selling and how much do you profit from them and what do you stand to lose if someone else is copying your design? How much will the legal fees be? Those are all questions that I think you have to ask yourself before making a decision.

I have been down this road more than once and for me I would say that sometimes it is worth taking a stand and other times you are just spending good money chasing bad money and it is not at all worth it.
 
I am not talking about taking any sort of legal action. I am upset because the seller is also a buyer of mine.
For them to give me a response "mine aren't anything like yours, its just a general design" makes we want to no longer sell to them again.
I think he should do the right thing and remove them from his site.
 
I am not talking about taking any sort of legal action. I am upset because the seller is also a buyer of mine.
For them to give me a response "mine aren't anything like yours, its just a general design" makes we want to no longer sell to them again.
I think he should do the right thing and remove them from his site.
Life is too short to worry about some random dirt bag ripping you off.

Life is also too short to deal with a dirt bag you know ripping you off.

With it being someone you deal with, I'd go the route of cutting them off. I've learned that when someone "tells" you who they are, it pays to listen.
 
I am not talking about taking any sort of legal action. I am upset because the seller is also a buyer of mine.
For them to give me a response "mine aren't anything like yours, its just a general design" makes we want to no longer sell to them again.
I think he should do the right thing and remove them from his site.
In that situation, I'd cut them off.

But purely from a cost/benefit viewpoint you need to determine if the potential lost sales is worth overlooking their lack of honesty/integrity.
 
Considering the main feedback of that seller on this site is the following, I don't think you getting upset is going to change their minds, and I don't think cutting them off of your supply would hurt the bottom line too much. They already are known to pass off cheap imitations of other Chinese chips. If you can't even do a good job copying shitty chips, then good luck...

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You have to cut them off. Even if this design of theirs is enough different to not count as yours, it is obvious they are trying to make your product theirs.
 
Or take this as a compliment that they like your design, but a crappy compliment and their crappy execution. You have a dedicated following so it’s not like this guy will take a ton of business away from you. People who know this hobby will go to you for quality products.
 
Nothing says "High Stakes" like a plaque whose only text is "High Stakes".
That "tribute" plaque is a high stakes turd burger.
Issue a verbal warning, let that be your final statement on the matter this time, then reevaluate the business relationship as time proceeds and more buys and sales and ripoffs happen.
 
I am not talking about taking any sort of legal action. I am upset because the seller is also a buyer of mine.
For them to give me a response "mine aren't anything like yours, its just a general design" makes we want to no longer sell to them again.
I think he should do the right thing and remove them from his site.
It's a bitch move. If this is a major customer, I'd go risk vs reward. If this guy is a few time buyer but not a game changer, I would kindly refuse the business.

Just my opinion. I work off relationships, that's a two way street. I would consider this enough to know it's not worth the time to cultivate anymore.

Imma jerk tho.
 
I just saw these on another site and asked where they were bought from and if they knew this was one of my designs.

Would you guys say this is a ripoff of my designs or should I just let it go?

Are both pictures in your OP from the other vendor, or is the Euro set yours and the $100 plaque his?

I've looked around your site, and the closest that these come to (from what I could find) is your Majestic set, and the plaques in your OP aren't that similar (IMO).

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Are there other plaques on your site that look more like his that I haven't seen yet? If not, I wouldn't get too upset. Yes, he's selling plaques, but so are lots of other sites.

If however the Euro set is yours, then they are a blatant copy (IMO). Cut him off, threaten legal action, or do whatever makes you feel better.

BTW, I found the"High Stakes" plaques online at https://www.thepokerstore.com/products/high-stakes-10-000-poker-plaque. Not sure if it is the same vendor you are talking about, but on eBay he is marketing them as James Bond Casino Royale plaques.

I also found the Euro plaques online at https://www.kingscasino.nl/product/high-stakes-plaque-25000-euro/.
 
Honestly, both designs appear to be super generic. Had you shown both, and not pointed out that you designed one of them, I would have thought that they were genetics made by a manufacturer for retail sale.

should you be upset? Maybe.
should you cause yourself stress? Probably not

john
 
Not sure if it is the same vendor you are talking about, but on eBay he is marketing them as James Bond Casino Royale plaques.
LOL, if you really want to mess with him, sic the movie copyright police on him for using the James Bond name for commercial purposes without permission. They have the lawyers and the money to make his life miserable, and it won’t cost you a dime.
 
Slight changes gets you out of copyright, like tribute sets or inlays. I think you cannot legally do anything to stop it, but by making it public raises awareness that these are knockoffs.
 
I am not talking about taking any sort of legal action. I am upset because the seller is also a buyer of mine.
For them to give me a response "mine aren't anything like yours, its just a general design" makes we want to no longer sell to them again.
I think he should do the right thing and remove them from his site.

Ugh. That seems a bit underhanded of him. I wouldn't do business with him again.
 
Edit: I've been corrected by @RudysNYC that these have been available through Alibaba type vendors for like a year.
That changes everything.

If a PCF vendor went online and bought plaques available for retail sale and pre-designed, I can't fault them with "stealing a design".
 
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I thought the lines and circle in Josh's design were generic. But after an internet search on plaques (albeit a quick one) the only plaques I'm finding with that design are Josh's and the vendor who copied him.

So not generic, and one vendor copied another vendor. Not cool in my book.
In the other vendor's thread someone said yes its a copy but Josh is in US and other guy is in Europe so who cares.

Well, the fact one vendor would copy another vendor is pretty damn shitty. Period. If I were Josh, I would have serious beef with other guy being allowed vendor status here. And I'd be hitting up Tommy to talk about it.

Josh has been around for a long time and in my opinion a staple of our community and valuable ressource.

Other vendor says in his thread he will be ordering other plaques from Josh and selling on his Euro site. At the end of the day does Josh want his business? Up to him.

Will he then copy Josh's other designs?
Remains to be seen. He did it once.
I’m willing to bet any amount of money that the two PCF vendors I know of selling these were reached out to by the manufacturer about them, not that the vendors themselves copied the plaques and had them ordered

these plaques were/are available from the Chinese cards mold suppliers for almost a year now. Idk when Josh had his made, but this design has been out there for a while. Is it possible the Alibabans saw Josh’s plaques and knocked them off? Yes. But IMO to start commenting on vendor’s thread and giving them a bad reputation when it is not necessarily wanted is fucking crazy and IMO malicious.

The gripe is with the Chinese manufacturers actively knocking off product. I guarantee you the Poker Store and the Euro vendor both didn’t realize a thing until Josh pointed it out. And Josh wasn’t talking about the Euro guy so stop shitting on his threads.

If you ordered multiple thousands of dollars of inventory and someone reached out to you to cease and desist over a *very strained and not-terribly-similar design*, you wouldn’t just say “ok friend.” These people have businesses and lives just as much as Josh does—these things suck, but it’s on the fugazi Chinese suppliers not the buyers. I truly don’t think the vendors were trying to knock off Apache specifically.
 
I’m willing to bet any amount of money that the two PCF vendors I know of selling these were reached out to by the manufacturer about them, not that the vendors themselves copied the plaques and had them ordered

these plaques were/are available from the Chinese cards mold suppliers for almost a year now. Idk when Josh had his made, but this design has been out there for a while. Is it possible the Alibabans saw Josh’s plaques and knocked them off? Yes. But IMO to start commenting on vendor’s thread and giving them a bad reputation when it is not necessarily wanted is fucking crazy and IMO malicious.

The gripe is with the Chinese manufacturers actively knocking off product. I guarantee you the Poker Store and the Euro vendor both didn’t realize a thing until Josh pointed it out. And Josh wasn’t talking about the Euro guy so stop shitting on his threads.

If you ordered multiple thousands of dollars of inventory and someone reached out to you to cease and desist over a *very strained and not-terribly-similar design*, you wouldn’t just say “ok friend.” These people have businesses and lives just as much as Josh does—these things suck, but it’s on the fugazi Chinese suppliers not the buyers. I truly don’t think the vendors were trying to knock off Apache specifically.

The Poker Store is actively selling my cards mold design on the front page of their website (it’s actually the first things listed on their front page). It’s unclear if they obtained the design from PCF as I had posted a fairly high res mock-up well before a cards mold manufacturer ever received my AI file. Or if the cards mold manufacturer is offering it to The Poker Store. I should maybe trace it back because the timing is so close I am not sure if it could have been from the cards mold manufacturer. Regardless, I think it is good to mention this stuff. Retailers should know and care about the products they are selling.

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