Beauty entrepreneur Iris Smit has been unable to stop her products from being duped and says she can't afford the legal fight.Ms Smit wants to see the conversation around beauty dupes shift towards the ethics of big brands copying smaller businesses.
Ms Smit developed a prototype to "stamp" the winged eyeliner to the outer corner of the eye, had her first products manufactured, and protected her designs through trademarks and patents. Ms Smit estimates that she's spent around $50,000 on her patent and its associated costs, but has learnt that being proactive isn't enough to prevent copycats.
The ABC is not suggesting the above companies are infringing on the patent held by Ms Smit and The Quick Flick.Duplicate products, or dupes, are not a new phenomenon in the beauty industry, but have attracted significant attention in the past two years due to the cost-of-living crisis. "We run our own brand, we do our own thing. It's not about deep pockets, it's about providing customers what they want," Ms Sullivan said.
A Kmart spokesperson said the retailer does several checks before the items are manufactured and sold in-store. "Specifications are like the instructions, and claims are what someone is claiming to hold a monopoly over and what is being protected from others copying," Dr Hook said. Dr Sarah Hook says small tweaks to the patent's design allow other brands to create their own eyeliner stamps.Even if business owners do the right things by protecting their products, Dr Hook said it often isn't enough in the highly competitive beauty industry."As soon as you come out with a product, your competitors are going to come out with a rival product.
"I do still care. I just think it's such a big case to try and fight, especially as a small business when you have limited resources and you're not cashed up," she said.