<div dir='auto'><div> Fun thread, if nicely OT. Thanks.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"> I have read that historically, China's interpretation of intellectual propery is very different from those of us in the west. At the heart of the issue is the intent. The story goes that in the earliest Chinese mindset, copying a design is the greatest form of complement. That may have been the original idea but greed has taken the idea from complement to theft of intellectual property, or in the case being discussed, acquisition of the name and therefore the heritage of the name...for profit. Humans, independent of national origin, have survived evolution because of greed. Rather sad that. I believe it was Douglas Adams that wrote (paraphrasing), "Coming down out of the trees was a rather bad idea."</div><div dir="auto"> Here in the States its almost impossible to buy a product without 'Made in China' on the label. That's not the fault of the Chinese. That's just business. Unfortunately, its difficult to 'Buy American', as the old phrase goes, because in many cases there is all but no domestic alternative. That IS our fault. What is the resolution? Who knows?! Tariffs don't seem to work. They just hurt everybody. The solution, like the problem, is probably dynamic. That is, there is probably no quick fix. One can't (re)build a competing quality bicycle manufacturing industry over night, to use Max and Bob's example. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"> I obviously don't have the answer. We old guys still have 'pride of place'. The millennials decry 'nationalism' in the face of a global economy, as an insult to our 'old ways'. I am almost 69 years old and obviously outdated. Some might even claim beyond my 'use by date'. Many times I have told my wife, as issues arise, "Its not our world any more." Sadly, or perhaps not so sadly, we won't be here to find out how our grandchildren deal with it. I think I need to go pull some spanners...</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Rick<br><div class="gmail_extra" dir="auto"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Aug 9, 2019 6:26 AM, Robert's New iPad via Mgs <mgs@autox.team.net> wrote:<br type="attribution"><blockquote class="quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="auto"><div dir="ltr"></div><div dir="ltr"> Max’s Chinese-built British-name bike response made me curious. A quick Google lookup finds in the UK: Pashley, Brompton, Shand and Enigma as bicycle manufacturers, Brooks still making saddles, and a host of component manufacturers. </div><div dir="ltr"> My wife’s bicycle, kept from junior high school years, is a Raleigh, made in Nottingham, girl’s frame, chain fully enclosed, with Sturmey-Archer three-speed. It is possibly the smoothest bike I have ridden. Too bad for me that it is short, saddle-to-handlebars, as it is so comfortable to ride. </div><div dir="ltr">Bob</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"><br>On Aug 8, 2019, at 8:28 PM, Max Heim via Mgs <<a href="mailto:mgs@autox.team.net">mgs@autox.team.net</a>> wrote:<br><br></div><blockquote><div dir="ltr">Just dumb. It’s like the Chinese bicycle I bought — it bears the brand name of a long-defunct British bicycle manufacturer. No relation, they just bought the rights to the name cheap.<div><div><br></div><div><sigh></div><div><br><div>
<div style="color:rgb( 0 , 0 , 0 );letter-spacing:normal;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;word-wrap:break-word"><div style="color:rgb( 0 , 0 , 0 );letter-spacing:normal;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;word-wrap:break-word"><div style="margin:0px;font-size:13px">--</div><div style="margin:0px;font-size:13px;min-height:16px">Max Heim</div><div style="margin:0px;font-size:13px">'66 MGB</div></div></div>
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<br><div><blockquote><div>On Aug 8, 2019, at 5:14 PM, Richard Lindsay via Mgs <<a href="mailto:mgs@autox.team.net">mgs@autox.team.net</a>> wrote:</div><br><div><div dir="auto">Any if you seen this vehicle? No, I have just less than 0% interest in owning it but it is interesting.<div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Automobile/China-owned-British-brand-MG-launches-pickup-in-Thailand">https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Automobile/China-owned-British-brand-MG-launches-pickup-in-Thailand</a><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Rick</div></div></div></blockquote></div></div></div></div></blockquote></div></blockquote></div></div></div></div>