GLOBALLY famous Filipino designers whose works are being copied illegally are closely watching Kenneth Cobonpue’s efforts at running after unscrupulous businessmen blatantly churning out poor imitations of his own works.
Cobonpue—a master furniture and industrial designer whose works have earned worldwide recognition and graced the homes of Hollywood royalty—identified jewelry designer Bea Valdes and luxury bag designer Tina Maristela-Ocampo among the observers in his solo fight so far against copyright pirates.
He was in Tagaytay City on Dec. 8 to witness the destruction of a truckload of illegal replicas of his works seized two years ago from a shop called RSK, located along the stretch of the national highway from Sta. Rosa, Laguna to Tagaytay.
This was after Tagaytay City Judge Jaime Santiago released an order to destroy the items patterned after Cobonpue’s creations, including the Noodle, Dragnet, La Luna and Croissant armchairs, and the Yin and Yang daybed.
Victory
Also found in RSK’s showroom were imitations of the Voyage daybed that became popular after a purchase made by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, and the iconic Yoda bar stool that was used by world leaders who attended last month’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in a dinner hosted by Malacañang.
“If we want to be the creative capital of Asia and the world, I think it’s high time we protected our own design industry,” Cobonpue said in an interview minutes before Judge Santiago’s order was implemented.
The designer inspected the copies before they were axed to bits by employees of a forwarding company that delivered these to the courtyard of the Tagaytay City Regional Trial Court.
“Hindi komportable (uncomfortable),” was how he described the fake goods.
Witnessing their destruction elated Cobonpue.
“It feels really good,” he said. “Finally, this is a victory for intellectual property rights, not only for myself but for all designers in the Philippines. I expect more of this to happen as we pursue other violators.”
Lawyer Franklin Gerard Galman of the Bengzon Negre Untalan Intellectual Property Attorneys said RSK’s owners—Editha, Elmer and Christian Pamintuan—offered a settlement to avoid a prison sentence.
The three were charged with violating the provision on copyright infringement under the 1997 Intellectual Property Code signed by then President Fidel Ramos.
To date, Cobonpue’s legal team is still pursuing cases against alleged offenders operating in Cebu City where his factory is located, as well as others in Pampanga, Cavite, Laguna and Taguig City.
Victim
Cobonpue said that Valdes, in particular, sends encouraging text messages to remind him that the Filipino creative community is rallying behind him in his fight against copyright violators.
Valdes is also a victim of imitators. Her exquisite jewelry has been featured in US Vogue and other internationally circulated magazines. Unfortunately, the glowing feedback has spawned ersatz copycat baubles, some of which are sold openly in high-end shops in the country.
Cobonpue mentioned that Ocampo’s Celestina bags, likewise featured in global fashion magazines, are also being copied illegally.
“Almost everyone among Filipino designers, at one time or another, have fallen victim to counterfeiters,” he added.
“I think the other designers all want to do something like this,” he noted. “All of them do. They’re saying ‘We’re looking at you and we’re seeing how this [effort to prosecute] is progressing.’”
Cobonpue pointed out that there is “a notion among designers that the protection offered by present laws is not enough. It seems we’re not serious about it.”
He clarified that he does not expect the courts handing his cases to order the closure of the shops: “Only that they will be prohibited from selling counterfeit items.”
Aggressive pursuit
Insiders note that Cobonpue is the first Filipino designer to put his foot down and aggressively pursue imitators.
“This has been going on for a long time,” he complained, “about six to seven years ago, but now they are all proliferating.”
He said he first learned about the
illegal replicas from well-meaning friends who took photos of the bogus items and informed him where these were being sold.
Cobonpue recalled being very upset when told of the piracy of his designs.
“Your creations are like your children,” he explained. “I felt really disheartened, just like the people who depend on my business for their livelihood.”
In an interview following a previous raid on RSK in 2013, Cobonpue stressed the painstaking labor that comes with the creative process of each of his designs.
“There is unfortunately no formula for coming up with a design, and that’s why it takes a lot of sweat, hard work and literally pain to come up with something unique,” he said.
Cobonpue added that a battery of “other designers, engineers, craftsmen and marketing people” are involved to ensure that each of his works “sees the light of day. It takes at least a year to produce a design.”
Copycats who skip the creative process simply feed off the energy of his creative team, he lamented.