Counterfeit stools pay the ultimate price

Chinese-made copies of a bar stool are crushed by a bulldozer. Picture / Kenny Rodger

Italian boutique furniture manufacturer Alberto Perazza was smiling yesterday as a bulldozer crunched 40 brand-new bar stools into the gravel of an East Tamaki motorway construction project.

As export manager for the Magis designer furniture company, Mr Perazza said it was "very satisfying" to watch the destruction of what seemed perfectly good stools.

He said they were Chinese-made copies of Magis' best-selling "bombo stool" which the company had tried to protect from plagiarism since its introduction in 1996.

"We have had success in suing plagiarists in the United Kingdom, Italy, France and Germany in order to protect the work and therefore the livelihoods of the designers we commission."

However, the company is trying to make it harder for its products to be copied by moving away from plastic to die-cast aluminium.

Mr Perazza backed legal moves by the stool's New Zealand distributor, ECC Lighting and Living, to stop illegal copies being sold.

So far, the campaign has prompted 42 New Zealand stores to withdraw counterfeit stocks and surrender them for destruction.

The offering of a Panmure store was used in the firm's stunt yesterday.

ECC managing director Mike Thorburn said three remaining stores were being sued in the High Court for continuing to sell rip-off copies of the bombo stool. The stores are in Albany, Nelson and Christchurch.

ECC says the number of rip-off copies coming into New Zealand is growing and it has started a new campaign to protect the interests of the "lem stool" made by La Palma.

Copies of the bombo stool sell from between $49 and $329. The legitimate Italian version sells for $699.