Designer of large rubber duck faces copyright infringement in Taiwan

Last year, visitors to ports around the world visited Florentijn Hofman's rendition of a childhood memory: taking a bath with a floating rubber duck. Although this bath time toy is known by people all over the world, Hofman's rendition of the yellow bird is unique, and therefore entitled to its own copyright protections.

The sight of the larger-then-life inflated duck has grabbed the attention of spectators in Amsterdam, Sydney and now, ports across Taiwan. However, in preparation for the duck's arrival, Hofman faced some intellectual property challenges with Keelung City event organizers.

Originally Hofman hired Jerry Fan, a well-known advertising consultant in the area, according to the Taipei Times. Fan was intended to add buzz to the city and set up all the necessary arrangements for the duck and Hofman. Instead, Hofman found out that a large array of unauthorized duck memorabilia was created as a way to make money for Keelung.

Hofman told the city of Keelung that he did not approve any of these goods and that he was only consulted about one sketch to create a spinning duck, similar to a ballerina music box. The issue with the merchandise is that it was imprinted with "exclusive rights" to Hofman, even though he was unaware. The city went so far as to print duck-themed smart cards, which are used for Keelung's subway system.

Fan was fired from the committee weeks before Hofman's installation in Keelung was slated to begin, but argued that "the yellow rubber duck has been around since they were kids, hence [Hofman] does not have any exclusive rights to it," Japan's Rocket News explained.

And the issues around Hofman's duck do not stop there. Recently, Hofman was notified that a Taiwanese business, Yusheng Co. made its own rendition of the rubber duck. While it has different features, the inflatable duck is the same size as Hofman's, another Taipei Times story reported.

In response to the situation, Hofman has threatened to cancel his installation of the duck altogether, even though it was scheduled to remain docked until February 2014.

"Hofman was very insistent, saying that if local merchants produce their own giant inflatable duck, he would terminate his duck's public display before the agreed period," Keelung City Council Speaker Huang Chin-tai told the source.

Sometimes it can be challenging to defend your intellectual property, but it is equally as important to continue the fight. A Phoenix small business attorney is available to aid startups and smaller companies in their own battles against copyright infringement. 

Categorised in: Intellectual Property Law

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