I spy a case of product espionage

A camera flash caused me to look up from the booth I was manning at the National Hardware Show in Las Vegas yesterday. A couple scurried down the aisle The man appeared to be attempting to hide something in his shoulder bag.

“Umm, I think those people just took a picture of your booth,” I told the fellow who was in charge of the booth next to mine. It’s a company that distributes all kinds of goods for outdoor cooking.

“Hey you!” the booth owner shouted. “What are you taking a picture of?”

Within seconds, the middle-age couple had rounded the corner and disappeared into the crowd. Another, younger man in the next-door booth gave chase while a merchant across the aisle called show security on his cell.

I’d heard about such intellectual theft taking place at industry trade shows and markets, but this was the first time I had seen it firsthand.

Another merchant on our row said it’s not at all uncommon for secret photos to be taken at trade shows so unscrupulous manufacturers can copy the product designs and have them manufactured overseas. In fact, she said, one time she brought a prototype of a fire pit to a show, only to see the exact design be manufactured offshore and appear at the next market – even before she could get the fire pit manufactured through traditional channels.

The last I saw, a show official had escorted the photographing couple to the lobby, where she was sternly telling them, through an interpreter, that they are not allowed to take photos of merchandise in booths without the permission of the booth owner. The man who shot the photo was reluctantly deleting photos from his digital cameral.

-- Kevin

Comments

[ricardo maxwell]

Why even allow these criminals into our shows? Bill Clinton set a dangerous precedent with China and we continue to treat their threat to our economy casually.