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If you go to a grocery store, you'll find many versions of cheddar cheese specifically. Some of it is blocked, some slices, some shredded. You'll also find that
by hbosch 7y ago
If you go to a grocery store, you'll find many versions of cheddar cheese specifically. Some of it is blocked, some slices, some shredded. You'll also find that in at least one of these forms, the store has it's own brand – called a "private label" – of cheddar cheese, probably shredded. Because Kroger, or Wal Mart, or Whole Foods has said "hey, selling cheddar cheese is a good idea and we can compete in our own stores". So they make a competing congruent product, maybe quality and prices are lower, but that's OK. The customer can make their own decision on which cheese to buy.
This is exactly the same concept as Amazon's private label businesses.
- kadoban 7y agoThere isn't a design there that's being copied or a brand being appropriated. I mean however many centuries back someone figured out cheddar cheese, but nobody alive has a proprietary claim to it.
- mipmap04 7y agoWhat about sodas like Dr. Pepper vs. Dr. Thunder? Do you think producing Dr. Thunder is ethically questionable from a business standpoint?
- kadoban 7y agoI don't think so personally. It is a pretty blatant ripoff of course, but Dr Pepper has also been around for a long time now (at least a century?) I don't think copyrights/patents/whatever apply, but if you think of the principles behind them as a bit of a guide, designing a novel product should ideally let you profit off it exclusively for a while (to incentivize invention), but probably not forever (to allow competition and lower prices).
- adolph 7y agoOr Oreo and Hydrox? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrox https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrox
- LMo 7y agoThanks for posting; Hydrox becomes the imitator...
- zerocrates 7y agoSomewhat of a tangent, but in the EU there is "brand" type protection for many types of cheese (think Parmesan), they have to come from the specified geographic area and use proper production methods, or else use a different name.