There is a sad truth: If something proves successful, it won´t take long for the copycats to show up.

This is something, the Austrian martial arts and performance sports brand Phantom Athletics and their CEO Dominique Wenger know just too well. After launching their training gear, the Phantom training mask during ISPO Munich 2017, for which they got awarded the renowned ISPO award (https://www.ispo.com/en/awards/ispo-award/winners/2017/health-fitness#!ts-3631-t-36159) , the team and Dominique Wenger noticed that not long after thousands of cheap, low-quality remakes of their product flooded the market. “At first we didn´t took it serious”, tells Dominique Wenger. “I just couldn´t imagine that such cheap copies could be a threat to our high-quality product.” But for the consumers, making that differentiation didn´t seem so easy, especially as some of the fraudsters claimed to sell the original mask. “This was when we actually realized: This is a serious problem and we need to do something. And we need to do it quickly.”, says Dominique Wenger. In the first years after entering the market over 600 thousand illegal copies of the Phantom training mask had been sold what translated into losses in the millions. “That was really, really annoying. It took us a lot of time, energy and money to get it under control again. It occupied us for almost a year. But what angers me even more is this: Phantom was and always will be my passion We put so much effort, consideration and really our heart into each of our products. Then seeing those people copying it, using only the cheapest raw materials, that can cause serious damages for the user, this makes me kinda sad and angry.”, explains Dominique Wenger.

By now, Dominique Wenger knows how to manage this threat directly and efficiently. They work together with several agencies and law firms, that are continuously monitoring the market and quickly take down illegal copies in no time. In this way it can be ensured that the distinctive Phantom design continues to be a sign of excellence and highest quality.

Find more infos at: www.phantom-athletics.com