Monday, August 27, 2018

My Visit to the Fake Supreme Store in China that is Legally Trademarked



When I heard that there was a legal Chinese trademark in place to operate a Supreme store, I had to see it in person.  Our voyage to Shenzen is quite far from home, but only a 45 minute train ride from my current location in Guangzhou, China- or so I thought.  




According to Shenzen Daily, Shenzen plans to be a world class innovative city by 2035. One of the ways Shenzen plans to accomplish this is to strengthen the protection and use of the city’s intellectual property rights. The southern Chinese journal reports that Shenzen will improve rules and regulations related to intellectual property rights; and push harder against IPR infringement by raising the cost of IPR crimes. 


From the train, I went to a popular shopping area named Coco Park, in Futian, a district of Shenzen with lots of foreign brand stores. However, to no avail, I couldn't find the Supreme store. I asked the locals and foreigners in the area if they knew where the store was located, but to my surprise, not many people knew.

Now it was time to exhaust my Wechat groups. WeChat is a popular Chinese social media platform, i.e.,  the lifeline of China. I asked about 1000 people in my network if they knew where the store was and yet, nobody gave me a positive or definitive location. After a few taxi rides following promising directions, I couldn't find it.

And then I saw a young man decked out in Supreme. He wore the red signature backpack with the white logo, a white supreme shirt, and a black and white Supreme face mask (not sure if those exist). He was my last hope before I really gave up and went home. 

I asked him where the store was and he gave me directions to Nanshan, another district of Shenzen, twenty minutes away. Another taxi ride down and I got to another shopping complex named Coastal City and there the fake Supreme store sat on the second floor. Watch our experience inside of the Supreme store here. Watch our store experience here.  



For now the store is only selling sweat shirts and t-shirts but they will soon start selling hats, which were already on display as samples. 








As we know, China is no stranger to making and faking a lot of the world’s products and services. So if you plan to start a company and produce your goods, you may want to consider registering for a trademark here in China. But even then, IP registration may not deter another person or entity from infringing upon your intellectual property.


We spoke to Diana Shu of Guangzhou Huaao Intellectual Property Service to learn more about the process of filing for trademarks here in China and how a person or entity could still legally apply and register for a trademark in China for the same use, name, and purpose of a legally registered trademark in another country, i.e., The Supreme Store. 

Primarily, Mrs. Shu says that filing for a trademark in China is fairly easy. Any person or company in China can apply for a trademark in a specific category, so long as the special logo or phrase hasn’t been applied for before. So in other words, the early bird catches the worm. However, Supreme, the real brand does not have a Chinese trademark in China, giving the fake Supreme store an entirely legal trademark for the name, logo, and use.



Honestly, the rules of filing for a trademark are pretty similar globally. Further,  big brands that can afford IP registration and protection fees, typically register in many countries, especially countries they know their items will be counterfeited.  But even then, registration does not stop infringement, just ask New Balance. It took them 10 years to finally win a legal battle it had against a Chinese company for using its name and selling counterfeit New Balance sneakers. Read about it here.

Saturday, February 17, 2018

Young Designer Edition: Chief by Ubong



1.What's your name and where are you from? 
I am Ubong Daniel. A Nigerian man from Akwa Ibom. Born in Livingstone New Jersey Raised in Dallas Texas.  

2.   What is the name of your Fashion Design and or Company? 
My Brand name is Chief by Ubong

3.   What type of fashion does your brand specialize in?
I am more focused on making street wear, but I make customized one of a kind garments such as ball gowns

4.   Did/do you study fashion? Or business?
I am currently a student at the University of North Texas studying Merchandising.

5.   How did your journey begin?
In 9th grade I made Pajama pants in my Theater class. Back then I was really big on being an Actor/ singer. My theater teacher told the class to be an actor it requires you to have many little skills and the skill she decided to teach us was how to sew. It was cool, but I never really thought much of it. Then in the 11th grade me and some friends made up a club called Urban Arts of the future. The club was meant to showcase different artistic talents such as dancing, singing, art, and fashion. We had a showcase. At this showcase there was a mini fashion show. I helped out by and stitching some Ankara fabric on t-shirts. The fashion show was fun and I got a lot of compliments from sewing simple pockets and sashes on shirts. After that I was like oh this is cool I can make myself some one of a kind shirts that no one has. This was a big deal for me at the time because this means I can make African clothes that
weren’t so traditional to African events. So, I kept doing patch work and made simple things like bowties and scarfs. Then I went to college and decided fashion was the way to go. But, as a Nigerian man majoring in fashion isn’t normal, or really accepted in the African community. So, I started off majoring in marketing. More acceptable than fashion, but marketing wasn’t cut out for me and I ended majoring in merchandising, the business side of fashion. During this switch is also when I was asked by The UNT’s African Student Organization to make their dance outfits. There were about thirty plus dance members and I am an amateur sewer that really only knows how to put patches on shirts. Although my sewing skills where limited I said yes - let me make all these outfits. I made all 30 something outfits for the dance team by trial and error. That’s when making clothes took off. People started asking me to make clothes for them and I did it. The weird thing is these people put their trust in me and I hardly ever trusted myself. but I can honestly say I’m glad that people started to put their faith in me.    

6.   What's the story behind your brand? 
My brand is honestly just a reflection of me. I was that kid that didn’t quite fit in to one box. I was told my name Ubong means Chief. So I named my brand after me and my culture. I will always remember my roots, but I’m not just some Nigerian man. Chief is a brand for people to accept themselves for who they are. They don’t try to change to fit the mold- they are living their best life in their own way.

7.   How long have you been designing? 
I have been professionally l designing for about 3 years.

8.   What inspires you?
My Nigerian culture is always an inspiration, but so are other cultures. I get intrigued by people’s ideas; how their culture and how their upbringing influenced their  mindset. So I do look at different cultures and history for inspiration. 

9.   Who are your fashion influences?
I honestly cannot pin point one person, but if I had to Rihanna. She is a style icon for a reason. She is unapologetic as to what she wears or does. She is so confident in everything and no one can tell her what she doing is wrong.  

10.  You are a young designer, so where do you see yourself in 10 years? 
In ten years I see myself as an established designer with a good following.

11.  Who and what motivates you? 
Honestly what keeps me going is not disappointing my parents. I have to be able to make them proud, and be able to silence all the people who speak ill about me to them.

12.  Do you listen to any particular music while working? 
Any particular music, no not really. I listen to Chance the Rapper, Frank Ocean, Rihanna, and other alternative hip hop for the most part. But I also listen to anything that I’m feeling that day.

13.  How has being a Nigerian American influenced your art and design?
It has a very strong influence. At on point I was told oh so you are just an African designer. I am not just an African designer. I don’t like being called that, I love my Nigerian culture, but saying that is putting me in a box and I am claustrophobic. With that being said, I do use a lot of Nigerian patterns and fabrics in my designs though.   

14.  What's special or different about your designs?
I Feel like my designs are daring. They are clothes that people are scared to wear or excited to wear. Your regular African tailor might not even let you think of wearing something like that.

15.  Where can the public find your designs?
My website will be coming soon, but for right now it will have to be my social media. 

16.  Are you on social media?
Twitter: @chiefubong
Instagram: ChiefbyUbong