We are two passionate founders. We started NORDBAEK with a blank sheet of paper, and can therefore say that our designs are 100% our own. Today we stand up for all the other passionate entrepreneurs like us who have a good idea and bring it to life with heart. We must protect good Danish design and entrepreneurship without diluting all the innovation we have in this country by letting copycats have free rein. We fully support SMVdanmark's new initiative for access to legal aid and increased compensation. 

See the original NORDBAEK design here.

Short excerpt from the Berlingske Business article on 22 Nov 2021: 

Bitz plates, Netto pots and rainwear from Rains are just the tip of the iceberg: One in four companies report being copied

Years-long plagiarism battles like the Christian Bitz and Anne Black cases attract enormous attention, but they hardly show the full extent of the problem. EU figures indicate that one in four smaller companies believe they have been copied. Many, however, do not dare to take the fight. SMVdanmark wants damages increased and access to legal aid.

When the two entrepreneurs Barbara Bentzen and Ida Krause founded the North Zealand company Nordbaek in 2017, which designs and sells exclusive winter bathrobes, they for a long time found themselves alone on the market with a unique product.

But in mid-2019 a competitor first appeared with a quilted winter bathrobe that very much resembles Nordbaek's.

It involved another small company, and Nordbaek chose to file a lawsuit to try to protect what they believe is their design.

An expensive affair that ended with a partial victory. Nordbaek was found to be right that their boat robe was unique at the time of design. But because the competitor had made a small design change from the start, they were allowed to continue.

"We spent several hundred thousand kroner on a case that we didn't really get anything out of. And then more and more examples began to appear where we believe we have been copied. In some cases by large Danish chains that have produced a cheap version closely mirroring ours. In other cases by major Danish design brands that, we believe, have copied our styles, color palettes and price point," says Barbara Bentzen.

She believes that the protection of Danish design and entrepreneurship is far too weak. And the experience led Nordbaek to lose faith that, as a small company with only three employees, they can realistically do anything when they believe they are being copied.

Not at all against big players with full legal departments.

"We tried to run a case ourselves once, and we've heard too many stories from other small businesses that have tried where it cost them a lot of money without getting the copies off the market. We simply don't believe in the Danish legal system on this issue. I know several others who feel the same. We don't have the time or the money to run the cases, and we actually don't dare to either," says Barbara Bentzen.

One in four feel copied

Nordbaek is far from alone in this view. Berlingske has been in contact with several small Danish design companies that also believe they have been copied by major players but do not dare to pursue cases.

Figures from — and get this — the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) show that 23.2 percent of companies in the EU with fewer than 250 employees and intellectual property rights have experienced those rights being infringed.

In short: Believe they have been copied at least once.

Among the top of the list is Denmark, where just over 38 percent of the companies in the survey say they have experienced being copied. This should, however, be taken with a grain of salt, since only 47 Danish companies are included in the large survey.

At the interest organisation SMVdanmark they therefore limit themselves to stating that "at least one in four" smaller Danish companies experience being copied.

"It's a kind of David versus Goliath, where the big players infringe on the small. It's ridiculously unfair, and a small company that has a copyright by having made a cup with some kind of artistic expression or another form of exclusive right finds it extremely difficult to come after the big ones," says Mia Amalie Holstein, deputy director at SMVdanmark.

She also points out that it's not only a problem for the individual company.

"It's also a problem for Denmark. If we have a society where one's idea is easily stolen, we will stop inventing things," says Mia Amalie Holstein, referring to other EU figures that show smaller Danish companies lag behind neighbouring countries like Sweden and Germany when it comes to bringing new innovative products to market.

Read the article in Berlingske

See here how the very first NORDBEAK robe looked and still looks to this day.