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LED Technologies spent two years and more than $900,000 to win judgement against a rival Melbourne company which had a copycat product made in China for sale in Australia.
The decision is expected to lead to a swag of action over copying of a range of products in the motoring world.
"It's a win for the underdogs. We had to push this one and go to the wire," the owner of LED Technologies, Tony Ottobre, says.
He said the LED lamps he designed and developed were taken by a rival company to China, where they were copied and sent back for large-scale sale in Australia. The original copier had been followed by a range of others who also took his idea.
"The copying of other people's ideas and products is the issue here.
There were probably four to six manufacturers copying us," Ottobre says.
"It was a snowballing effort. The Chinese are very good at copying.
There are a lot of shonky Chinese manufacturers, although there are some good ones too."
Ottobre's action is the first following the Federal Government's Designs Act 2003 and the hearing eventually came before Justice Michelle Gordon, who said Ren International and distributors Olsen Industries, Advanced Automotive Australia and Elecspess infringed his registered Australian designs and contravened sections of the Trade Practices Act.
Sales of the LED Technologies lamps, which use innovative LED products, jumped from just $100,000 in 2003 to more than $12 million last year. Total sales have topped $34 million, although Ottobre says copying had cost him a six-figure sum.
"We started in 2003 with three people and we have more than 20 now.
We've gone ahead," he says.
"But there are a lot of guys who cannot afford to take these things to court. We had to take a stand."
Since the Federal Court's decision, the copycat products have been removed from sale but Ottobre it is just the start of a sweep as companies move to protect their intellectual property in Australia.
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