Copyright Violations - A Stumbling Block for American Textile Importers

By SUCHITA NAYAR

INDIA POST NEW YORK BUREAU

NEW YORK: American companies importing cloth home accessories like table and bed linen from India face serious glitches in working with Indian manufacturers, prominent American importers reported to India Post at the 132nd New York International Gift Fair, at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, February 27.

Most US companies which out source their product line from India complained of blatant copyright violations of designs by Indian manufacturers. These companies spend a large chunk of their research and development revenue to develop patterns for the international market, and get them manufactured in India. Indian manufacturers, in turn, violate copyright sanctions by plagiarizing the patterns and passing them off as their own in foreign and domestic markets. William L. Trevers, general manager, Design Imports India (DII), expressed concern about design piracy. "It has happened so many times with us that it is impossible for us to trust a vendor." he said. "Instead of thinking long term with a supplier, we are forced to operate on a project basis. Still, we like the quality of workmanship so much that we refuse to do business with any other competing country."

Kusum Dhawan, owner of Saparna Inc. who specializes in kitchen accessories, said that if Indian manufacturers have to make it big in the international market, they will have to start addressing quality issues. "There is total disregard for product quality and production deadlines," she said. "There needs to be an attitude shift for Indian suppliers to match up with Chinese and Philippines manufacturers who are forging much ahead in the international market."

Besides quality issues, packaging seems to be the other area which needs serious work," said Rakesh Grover of Malabar Grove, an upscale wholesaler of home linen accessories. "Indian companies should spend more money on research and development to improvise on product quality and the look of the finished product." Despite these glitches, a number of American importers have stayed loyal to Indian handloom and yarn products. Prema Bose, President, Indian Overseas Traders, one of the oldest textile importers in the US, said that she has experienced some problems in working with Indian vendors, but is committed to Indian workmanship. "It takes some hand-holding and guiding, but once you get the desired product it all evens out."

Steven C. Kohn of Homefront Inc., a company which has been outsourcing it’s home accessories line from India for the last 20 years, expressed satisfaction about Indian workmanship. "It is possible to find an enormous range of crafts skills in India which we can’t find in any other Asian market," he said. "For the last two decades, we have been working with excellent crafts people who have been providing us a good product."

It is evident that Indian manufacturers need to address serious quality issues to compete for the US import orders. There is tremendous potential which has not been tapped as yet by Indian companies due to lack of export orientation. However, despite all odds, some manufacturers have made significant progress by improving quality of the base yarn. They have also started experimenting with different fibers like wool, linen, and silk. A few top brass yarn manufacturing firms have initiated training programs on international quality and design for their personnel. As a result of these efforts, things have started to look up for export oriented textile industry, although there is a lot of grunt work to be done as yet. India is scheduled to be the featured country in Germany’s largest ‘Helm-textil’ show in 1998.

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