Alan Silverwood battles local rival over copying

Bakeware manufacturer Alan Silverwood has successfully tackled a rival that has been blatantly exploiting Silverwood’s reputation and expertise to sell its own products on its website.

However, talks are still going on between the two companies over one issue – what Silverwood describes as the “slavish copying” of certain of its own pans.

“They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. OK, so we’re really flattered,” Silverwood’s managing director, Simon Silverwood, told HousewaresLive.net.

“Not only has this fawning company slavishly copied the concept, shape, size and configuration of a series of unique Silverwood products (using a different material from our anodised aluminium – tinned steel – which is a cheaper down-market product), they’ve gone a couple of steps further.

“They’ve used our photographs of our cakes to publicise their products, and then, for the ‘icing on the cake’, have even used our name, as in ‘Alan Silver Wood style’. How much more flattery can we take!”

He said he had approached the company with his complaints, and that it had now removed the reference to Alan Silver Wood, and the cake images, from its website. Links to the offending items from Google had also now disappeared.

But he said “the question of the design of the pans was a bit of a sticking point” and that he had told the company he would take further action against it if it did not change its product.

“A frank and robust discussion has taken place,” he said. “A clear and unambiguous stance has been taken and a deadline has been spelled out.”

Silverwood said that he should not be surprised that a competitor thought it could copy some of his company’s original ideas. “What was unexpected, though, was the discovery that this loathsome parasite was beavering away in a rather surprising location.”

The company, he said, was operating just a few miles away from Silverwood’s own premises in Birmingham.

“From an industry point of view it is interesting,” he added. “It’s the first time I’ve been aware of something like this so close to home.”