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www.toyworldmag.co.uk Neil Bandtock leaves Vivid
Vivid Imaginations’ UK managing director, Neil Bandtock, has decided to leave the company to seek a new challenge. Neil has held a number of senior sales and management positions during a long and successful career with the company. Neil’s previous duties will now be shared amongst the existing management team. Paul Weston, CEO of Vivid Group, stated: “Neil has made a major
contribution to our business. We’re sorry to see him go, but we wish Neil every success in his new ventures.” Neil added: “I’ve loved my time with Vivid Group and am immensely proud of everything the company has achieved so far.
Spin Master sues two Chinese manufacturers
@toyworldmag New designated region for Mattel
Mattel has realigned its core European structure to cover the Europe, Russia, Middle East and African markets under the leadership of David Allmark, managing director. As the region continues to grow, it will play a more critical role in Mattel’s overall business evolution. Representing a mix of developed and developing markets, the region presents several unique opportunities to take Mattel to a leading position across key categories and territories. Allmark and his team are focused on driving engagement across all platforms for some of the world’s most venerable brands and nurturing industry talent. David Allmark, managing director, Europe, Russia, Middle East and Africa, commented: “I am very excited to be leading this great team, and I am equally motivated to seize the opportunities that lie ahead of us as we invest in exciting brand activities, creating consumer motivation and important retail activation.”
Spin Master has fi led civil lawsuits with the Shantou Intermediate People’s Court against two Chinese manufacturers, Shantou Chenghai Hui Ying Toy Factory (‘Hui Ying’) and Shantou Chenghai Hua Cai Ke Yi Industry and Trade Co (‘Hua Cai’). The lawsuits seek to recover damages and enjoin the manufacturers
from further production of what Spin Master alleges are knock-offs of its Flutterbye Flying Fairy. The lawsuits claim infringement of both Spin Master’s registered
copyright and utility model patent. The alleged counterfeits are sold under the names ‘Beautiful Flying Fairy’/’BaoNiu Flying Fairy’ and ‘Flower Fairy’. To curb the infringement and illegal exportation of products that
copy Flutterbye Flying Fairy, Spin Master has taken a series of measures, including online monitoring and administrative enforcement. To date, Spin Master has been successful in shutting down over 100 websites attempting to sell knock-off products into the global marketplace over the internet. Many of these websites were found to be selling product manufactured by the defendants in the lawsuits, Hui Ying and Hua Cai.
Zuru pursues RoboFish IP infringements
Zuru’s intellectual property campaign has seen numerous victories in its fi ght against counterfeit products that imitate its RoboFish line. Legal counsel for Zuru and its
partner Goliath have recently settled in Belgium with a distributor who imported approximately 36,000 pieces of counterfeit RoboFish products. These goods were subsequently sold to large reputable retail chains. Zuru pursued and was granted an Anton Pillar action, and the goods have since then been through a vigorous recall and destruction process with a large cash settlement going to Zuru and Goliath. Both parties have settled on amicable terms. Happiness Trading and Hogenkamp Klompen en Souvenirs B.V in the Netherlands
Co-founder Seth Bishop departs Re:creation
have also undergone full recalls and damages payments on their item ‘Ifi sh’ which Zuru started pursuing in mid 2013. Infringing French, Russian, Spanish, Hong Kong, New Zealand and UK companies are now being pursued with actions being taken in all countries for stock to be removed from shelves and online portals. Zuru welcomes any retailers and distributors to review its IP, both issued and pending, and welcomes them to reach out at any time to gain a better understanding and help them avoid any future potential legal issues.
After 16 years at the company, Seth Bishop has stood down from his position as sales and marketing director of Re:creation and leaves with immediate effect. Seth explained: “I have enjoyed an amazing 16 roller-coaster years at Re:creation and feel it is time for me to explore new challenges. We went through a signifi cant period of change in 2011, bringing new investment into the business at which time new majority owners and a new strategy provided solid reinforcement to our heritage of innovation in the toy market. At that time, I pledged three years to the new board and, having fulfi lled both that commitment and my own desire to see a re-focused strategy successfully implemented, I am happy to move on, remaining as a shareholder in the knowledge that Re:creation has an outstanding management team to protect the future of the business.” Re:creation’s CEO Mike Lehrter said: “We would like to thank Seth for his
exceptional contribution to the company and building a highly investable business, particularly during the last three years of exciting progress and change.”
08 Toyworld
Distoy returns “bigger and better than ever”
This year’s Distoy event will take place from 3rd-6th June. The show is a ‘by appointment only’ event, specifi cally catering for toy distributors in the international markets. Due to the nature of the event, retailers aren’t encouraged to attend. Organiser David Potter commented: “ I’m delighted to say that we’re expanding the
show again this year. We’ve taken an additional fl oor at the main venue, the St James’ Court Hotel. We will also have companies exhibiting in the St Ermin’s hotel again this year. Given the fact that we have a larger number of exhibitors than ever before, it might be worth visitors considering booking an extra night’s stay to make sure they don’t miss anything.”
A list of exhibitors with contact details can be found on the Distoy website ( www.
distoy.com ). There are no fi xed opening and closing times, although the showrooms are generally open for business between 9.00 and 18.00.
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