Fellow Multistrada owners, It pains me to advise that there is a group in the Netherlands (motopuro.nl) that has knocked off the Screen Spacers for 950, 1200, 260 models, that Iconic Parts engineered and developed. https://iconicparts.uk/shop/ols/products/ducati-multistrada-screen-spacers This is a blatant disregard of the posted advisement on the iconic parts.uk product page: THIS IS A REGISTERED DESIGN AND WE WILL PROTECT OUR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. DESIGN REGISTRATION: https://www.registered-design.service.gov.uk/find/6082462 and is an example of having no respect for the time and money that Iconic Parts have spent developing this product, and they blatantly are producing a cheap copy. People / companies that produce knock-offs are bad for any industry that requires research and development to create and produce products, as it creates market conditions that make research and development a financial risk … consequentially, companies become reluctant to conduct research and development. New products become more and more infrequent, and we as consumers lose out in the long run. When given a choice between equal quality products from the original developer or a knock-off group, I choose the original developers product, even if it costs a little bit more … and in this case when the product qualities are not equal, it makes it even easier to do the right thing, as that little bit more in cost buys higher quality.
Registered design and a Patent are two different things. Your registered design really does not protect your product fully. Yes it is infuriating that someone else has copied your work, but the chinese have been doing this for decades, and the likes of multi million pound companies like Brembo cannot stop what they do, we all would like to support small companies but most shop on price and give little regard to the manufacturer and that is the world we live in now. I do feel your pain as i had the same issues many years ago
hopefully there are enough people who either have the ethics to not purchase knock-offs ... or that see value in superior product, and are willing to pay a fraction more.
Regrettably, it's part and parcel of having something in the public domain. Even a patent doesn't stop someone taking inspiration from a design and producing their own variant. Not saying it's not right, but unfortunately it's hard to stop.
I've bought all my bits from Iconic and can understand the frustration of bits being copied , However to add balance isn't there a point where you've made your development money back and some of the bits just look expensive ? With things being easier than ever to reverse engineer , copying is inevitable so cost becomes a main driver to a lot of people. If everyone was ethical nobody would use Amazon , primark , etc............. , yet they do in their droves. #justsaying
The guys telling everyone about this Dutch company have done a wonderful advertising job for those spacers Most would never have even known of 'em without all this publicity on forums and Facebook. Maybe it would be better to just remove the posts and let it quietly fade from memory?
not sure the Amazon model works in your defense argument ... as yes, there are knock-off manufacturers selling their counterfeit products (shame on Amazon for that) ... but there are also OEMs selling their products through Amazon. your point on recouping R&D costs is somewhat more valid ... and that is why some/most manufacturers end up lowering their MSRP after their products have been on the market for a period of time, and hopefully they indeed did rocoup R&D costs and make some profit for their efforts. developing new products can be an expensive proposition, and if the market is a knock=offs are ok with everyone, as people are all about the cheapest offering, then I can see most if not all developers packing their bags and taking up a hobby, rather than wasting time and money being creative ... and then we all lose, as knockoff artists typically are not creative. just MHO, having been in the creative field for 30+ years.
Not really .... You and others like you have brought this to the attention of hundreds of potential buyers though. That is publicity that did not need to be. If someone says think of an animal but dont picture a horse...then you picture a horse. That's what you have achieved Now lots of potential buyers know that Moto PXXX in Holland ( I won't name them). is making copy items of Iconic's idea - they didn't need to know that really. Kept under the Radar might have been shrewder? There are also others available of course, Google Aztec screen spacers as well. I have Iconic spacers on mine, they are good. I would buy them again. However, thanks to social media and here, I now know of the Dutch company making copies, and I also know they work out more expensive by the time they get here. Its life, competition is what occurs on successful items. I am only surprised that Wish and the like have not also copied 'em. If they do - just dont tell everyone eh?
I have the Iconic spacers ... well i did have, i've since lent them to my mate. He's since offered me them back but I told to keep hold of them for the time being. I've made my own spacers now out of metal strap as i wanted to space my screen off and move it downwards on my bike. I found that the spacers didn't make that much difference (they space the screen and give a little more tilt so it changes the way the wind hits). Certainly way over priced for what they are.
I bought my Ducati there when they still had the Ducati dealership and know the owner as a very reliable man. What (for me) isn’t clear is: they sell them, is there any proof that they produce them? Have you contacted them and talk to them about your complaints?
