Manufacturer fights for share in China
manufacturing
Jim D'Addario, chief executive of Farmingdale-based D'Addario & Co., a manufacturer of guitar strings, has been fighting counterfeiters in China for more than 10 years, contending they have cut sharply into his business by copying his company's patented strings.
Now D'Addario plans to step up his fight for a share of the Chinese market. The company plans to open a marketing office in China. "We're trying to sell products there," D'Addario said earlier this week. "We're not going to give up until we get our share of the [Chinese] market."
D'Addario's plan comes as he attempts to crack down harder on the alleged counterfeiters. D'Addario said the company is now using a monitoring service and has, through the Chinese government, "taken down" about 1,000 "rogue websites" that he said were "blatantly selling" counterfeits of his strings.
The Chinese government in December approved the company's plan to open a marketing office in the country, D'Addario said. He has become one of America's leading spokesmen against counterfeiting abroad.
On Wednesday, he dispatched Rick Drumm, D'Addario's president, to the White House to attend a panel on counterfeiting.D'Addario said they will also maintain a warehouse in China. "We'll have the ability to distribute our products directly."
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