A prominent BJD counterfeiter in China who has been supplying unscrupulous or unsuspecting buyers with "recast" copies of dolls has taken his assault on BJD artisans one step further. He has registered the trademarks and logos of numerous BJD artists under his own name in China. China's trademark system is "first to register" rather than "first to use" as it is in the United States, so by claiming these trademarks in China he has the power to block sales and even production and export of any dolls bearing these trademarks. This means that both dealers and the original doll artisans can driven off of online marketplaces like Taobao and could also be prevented from selling at doll shows within China because he can claim trademark infringement. Additionally, he has begun the registration process for a number of these trademarks in Australia, Canada, the European Union and the United States. Affected BJD makers and dealers (not including individual brands like Idealean & Feeple): Aileendoll Alchemic Labo April Story Bambicrony Bluefairy ChicaBi Cocoriang Code Noir Crobidoll Darak DearMine Dolk Dollshe Craft Dollmore DollnDoll DollPamm Dollstown Engodoll Fairyland Iplehouse Irrealdoll IBJD Kreamdoll Latidoll Leekeworld Lilycat Linachouchou Little Monica Luts Marina Bychkova MigiDoll Monchrome Monodee Myoudoll Napi Doll Nine9 Peak's Woods RamCube Rosenlied Roserin RSdoll Sadol Sugar Fairy Soom Souldoll TTYA Withdoll These registration filings can be seen here on the China Trademark Database, here on Trademarkia. Some filings have gone live in the European Union. Note: Oueneifs (using Disney's font) is the trademark he has created for his counterfeits. Registered Owner: LIGUI LUO No.018 Zhongshe Group, Jiazhu Village, Guanxi Town, Taihe County Ji'an City, Jiangxi CN Registered Correspondent: Yuen Lam 1E Signal Drive Manchester GB M40 8NN The Chinese registrations appear to have been filed in December of 2016 and September of 2017. Trademarks require a twelve month observation period before validation. The China Law Blog has this useful post about trademark squatting, and a well written post about why artisans should register in China to prevent this type of expensive and damaging predation. These registrations cost hundreds of dollars each, so clearly Luo is planning to make use of them to expand his business. Some BJD companies have already made statements about their trademark status: LUTS LatiDoll @mangameow is maintaining a list of companies who have been contacted and their responses. Adoll, the Chinese dealer for Dearmine, Nine9, TTYA and others, is working to support their rights. Code Noir has announced that they are hiring a lawyer and assembling a legal team. Loongsoul and Spiritdoll have filed a case against Luo. Angell Studio, Doll Chateau and a few other Chinese dealers are taking action as well. Dollshe is working with KOTRA (Korea Trade Investment Promotion Agency) along with some other doll makers. Thank you @PuffyPuffers and @f15dolls for the information. Den of Angels has a ZERO TOLERANCE policy regarding counterfeits/recasts and always will. We believe that this new trademark theft is a direct result of the increasing prevalence of unchecked counterfeits in online sales platforms like eBay and Amazon, the purchasing habits of those who believe recast ownership is a victimless crime, and the lack of negative social consequences for recast owners among those who say they are "recast neutral." Every purchase of a counterfeit doll has proven to the counterfeit industry that their theft is acceptable and profitable. They continued to sell recasts and actively search out other legitimate dolls to counterfeit. It has continued for so long without consequences that the recasters have now been emboldened to steal company identities and thus secure an even wider market. If these trademark registrations succeed, these thieves can legally say they own the rights to the brands they have stolen. Den of Angels has consistently denounced the recasting practice and has tried to inform the community of the very real problems that counterfeiting poses to the BJD hobby. It is clear that the threats from the recasting industry are even more severe than we ever imagined. In order for the legitimate hobby to survive, artists must be able to create new dolls, to make advances in sculpting, casting, and jointing mechanisms, and to have the freedom to market their dolls as they choose. This is not possible without the financial and moral support from BJD collectors. Now, instead of creating new beauty for us to enjoy, they will find their energy and finances consumed by fighting this parasite. For those who have been "pro-recast" now is the time to stop buying counterfeit dolls. For those who have been "recast neutral" we hope that you now understand that remaining silent also has consequences. We truly hope that people can now see the reality of the situation. Please do not let greed, entitlement, and impatience win. If people would like to discuss the situation, please do so in this thread: [BJD makers threatened by Chinese counterfeiter]
