It has been said that you can consider it flattery when a competitor copies your design.
That it may be, but it’s also frustrating. Stealing one’s intellectual property is very bad business, completely unethical, and it’s upsetting to a company like ours that is always fair and on the up-and-up.
Late in 2007, one of our competitors copied almost to a “t” both our Step-1 pool step and our 8000 ladder. Below is a photograph of our step, which we introduced in 1998.
That it may be, but it’s also frustrating. Stealing one’s intellectual property is very bad business, completely unethical, and it’s upsetting to a company like ours that is always fair and on the up-and-up.
Late in 2007, one of our competitors copied almost to a “t” both our Step-1 pool step and our 8000 ladder. Below is a photograph of our step, which we introduced in 1998.
Here is the step -- the “Easy Step” -- introduced by competitor John Bonelli (under the company names of "Island Recreational" and "The Asia Connection"). Note how blatant of a rip-off it is. The only changes in design versus ours are the spindled uprights (ours are straight) and the connection points where the steps connect to the walls (the only item that was patented in our design).
So, be careful out in the marketplace if someone tries to pass these steps off as Confer products. They’re not. The competition’s quality is much lower, their steps are much weaker, and their products are made in China.
If you see someone advertising the rip-offs as Confer Plastics steps, please contact Bob Confer at bob@conferplastics.com
