"MADE IN GERMANY."

Otago Daily Times, Issue 12602, 4 March 1903, Page 3

"MADE IN GERMANY."

— DISHONEST TRADE PRACTICES. The Customs authorities of New Zealand recently intercepted and confiscated, on arrival [ at various ports here, consignments of cigarj ettea, packed so as to resemblo tho famous I Vanity Fair brand. These goods were being • imported from Germany—in fact, a previous ; consignment had been landed and placed on j the market,—and on it being shown to tlifi j satisfaction of t-ho Customs Department that ! the packages wero colourable imitations of the j " fragrant Vanity Fair" brand, prompt measures wero taken for the confiscation of imporI tations. The exposure is ono that will tend to increase tho prejudice against goods 11 made j in Germany." These methods of some foreign ; manufacturers aro most reprehensible, and it ; is) to be hoped that no New Zealand trader will cither be duped by these unscrupulous per- : sons or will connive at their ways of doing ! business. It was a most daring idea to pirate : the cover of a brand of cigarettes that havo bean sold in New Zealand since 1873, and which aro protcoled under the trade marks registration : law; but, thanks to the acumen and vigilanco i of tho Customs officials, the public aro protected from having an inferior article foisted upon them, and at tho same time the proprietors of Vanity Fair cigarcttcs have not been robbed of tho great reputation they havo gained or of the legitimate profits of their ! enterprise. ' It was only recently that Mr Justice Wil- | liarns gave one of tho most full and clear dc l ; cisions ever given in a trado mark case, in i favour of the proprietors ot tho Vanity .Fair ! cigarettes against a southern manufacturer, 'wherein ho stated:—"Knowing that the fragrant Vanity Fair cigarettes had a great reputation, he used a wrapper similar to the Vanity Fair wrapper, with the intention of ; imitating the plaintiff's get-up, in order that ! the defendant's goods might be mistaken for i the goods of the plaintiffs." And now we lwvo j a similar case " made in Germany." This is | proof of the high quality of Vanity Fair cigar- , ettes, but it is also evidence of what the proprietors of a trade mark have to contend with, ' owing to unscrupulous people selecting a favourite brand and endeavouring to foist on ■ the unwary purchaser a low grade of goods to make money. This law in great Britain is stringent in suppressing the sale of any ariiclc under a name or guise which might make it ■ liable to bo mistaken for some widely-known ; articlo of the same character, and the New Zealand . Customs Department is to be congratulated upon stamping out such practices.