For many in product design, there is a need to the product to generate sales and reduce per unit cost. At the same time, this raises the risk of someone copying the idea and design. So how does one reduce the risk of copying as they share the product to generate sales?
There are various options to reduce the risk of someone copying and selling. One obvious way is to patent the design. Another way is build a good volume in a lower cost location, so that the lower cost will deter potential counterfeiters.
Besides patents and industry knowledge on whether it is easy to create the same product, we can, and in most cases, should add product performance specifications, quality guarantee and serialization layers to deter copying.
By performance specs, you could clearly spell out the weight, rate of work, and size clearly. It is hard to create something with the same combination of performance. This is even more difficult if it is a product that can withstand harsh weather and drop environments.
In terms of quality guarantee, providing a 5 year 100% parts warranty will also be another layer of deterrent to potential counterfeiters. Providing the guarantee also allows one to learn about how your product can be improved. I think the cost of carrying additional parts in your house is minimal compared to the added assurance to beat counterfeiters.
One can also couple quality assurance with serialization of product to link to each buyer from the onset. One can verify each request of parts exchange (from your product warranty) by checking that the buyer details matches with the serialization given to it. The buyer can sign up for the warranty online (you can create this quite easily on a website) after he receives the product, and you can give the customer another code to authenticate with the product serial number that you kept, that is reference to this customer originally. One can also check specific details of the buyer when they file a part warranty claim.
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