Copy of the Nop-Template's Venture and Pavilion Themes

Hi guys,

We are writing this post regarding various occasions when other vendors have copied our themes and plugins. It has happened before, and we have always reported it to the nopCommerce team because they can only impose some rules about which extensions get published in the marketplace. We also expect that copying other vendor's products is a practice that will not be tolerated.

We have refused to take all these cases public so that we do not tarnish nopCommerce's reputation. We would usually report the case to nopCommerce, and they would make sure to delete the product from the marketplace. The last such occasion was a month ago when our Avenue theme was blatantly copied and offered in the marketplace for three times less than our price.

Last week we came across two competitor themes, which we think are a replica of our Pavilion and Venture themes. We reported the cases to nopCommerce, but they replied that the themes are not the same, refusing to delete them and suggested that we post a public discussion.

We are asking you now, do you see any similarity between the Venture and Pavilion themes and the themes listed below? Also, if the same has happened to someone else, please share it here.

As a dedicated partner and contributor to nopCommerce in the last eight years, we believe that there should be clear rules about what gets publishes in the marketplace and what not. Is violating intellectual property considering right? Or is it something we need to stand against?

Venture - created November 21, 2017 - https://www.nopcommerce.com/nop-venture-responsive-theme-14-plugins-nop-templatescom
Nop Shopee Responsive Theme (Globaltechnologic.com) - created May 11, 2019 - https://www.nopcommerce.com/nop-shopee-responsive-theme-globaltechnologiccom
  
   http://themes.venture2.nop-templates.com/
   http://themes.shopee.globaltechnologic.com/
  
   http://themes.venture2.nop-templates.com/snowboarding
   http://themes.shopee.globaltechnologic.com/desktops

Venture vs. Shopee - click to view

Pavilion - created April 08, 2016 - https://www.nopcommerce.com/nop-pavilion-responsive-theme-13-plugins-nop-templatescom
Market Theme (nop4you.com) - created September 17, 2018 - https://www.nopcommerce.com/market-theme-nop4youcom
  
  http://theme19.nopcommerce.pl/en/
  http://themes.pavilion.nop-templates.com/ - for best comparison just choose the office vibe color preset from the left panel with the settings
  
http://themes.pavilion.nop-templates.com/womens-fashion
  http://theme19.nopcommerce.pl/en/apparel

Pavilion vs. Market - click to view

Please note that in the Market theme there are elements from our Emporium Theme as well.

Hello Guys,

We would like to focus on the proves in the code, if it's possible of course. Can you show us the copied styles or html code? Because if we take into consideration design and it's similarities, look at this:


or this:


or this:


or this:


By the way, look at this one, screenshoots may looks familiar for you.

Cheers,
nop4you Team

There will always be similarities in the various designs. We are not talking about this here. We are pointing out that whole elements are copied and the page structure too. We are not referring to the code at all. So, when put together, the themes look the same. Not to mention that you have taken the slider from our Emporium theme as well and incorporated it into your theme. 
 
This goes beyond just similarities, as everyone can see on the comparison table. You can come up with tons of examples from the internet. However, we are talking about the nopCommerce marketplace and raising the question - can a vendor A publish a theme in the marketplace, which is a replica of a theme by vendor B. We cannot stop you from offering the Market theme on your website. However, we want to have certain rules when it comes to product publishing in the nopCommerce marketplace. 

As for the Reminders, it seems like another copycat. We are going to create a separate case on this one. And we are going to bring up all past cases that had been intentionally covered by us in goodwill so that we do not damage the reputation of nopCommerce. So, we hope that everyone will grasp the extent of the damage that is being done here.

Nop-Templates.com wrote:

What can I say, we fully agree with this nopCommerce Team statement. This work was made by our web developer, code was written by him and as I wrote in the previous post, you won't find any similarity in code.  For us this situation is unfair and slanders our company, it's not the first time, when you blame us for copying your work. For sure you remember case with Ajax Filters, which was few years ago. And as you also remember, the accusations were wrong.

I can agree with one thing, there is a similar structure. Same structure is an over-interpretation, as long as you provide the copied code, even highlighted product box is different. Similar of course, but not replicated.  Everyone is able to provide dozen of stores with similar structure, as it's popular in these days. Each of them will be a replica?

I saw products where your classes names with styles were copied from your original themes, in that case we can say about replica. Not in this one. Sad true is a fact that your case is not a single one. During only last months, we had few cases where our work was copied and published on marketplace.

You only talk about the code and the web developer when we pointed out that it is the design and the page structure that we take into account.

We have a designer in house who has designed the theme. We also have the PSD files which we can provide for proof.
Can you provide any PSD files?

If this case slanders your company, I am short on words to say how much damage cases like that have caused our company.  We are talking about resources that we have put into creating a product that then is copied and easily offered in the marketplace.

I am pointing out again that the purpose of this post is to bring to everyone's attention a huge problem and to initiate changes in the way products are approved and submitted to the marketplace.

For us, it's last post in that dialogue, because we don't see further sense of sharing point of views. You have your own, we have ours, which is consistent with nopCommerce Team opinion.

I wrote about web developer, because I'm still not able to imagine, how can you say that the work is copied, if you are not able to provide even 1% of similarities in our final products. As long as we talk about fully working nopCommerce theme, you just can't simplify it to its visual structure. Come on. We didn't use your images, we didn't use your styles. In this situation, you can blame 20% of the internet for stealing your ideas, including authors of theme mentioned above.

As long as you publicly blame and slander our company, the purpose of the post is totally different. As I wrote in the previous post, you are not the only victim in the nopCommerce community, as you are thinking.

To state that there is not even a 1% similarity in the designs is arrogant. Not to mention that it is unprofessional to hide behind the back of the nopCommerce team. It is enough to see both themes to be able to tell that they are the same in terms of design and page structure. You can put different product images, the design stays the same.

Again, I don't think you understand the point of this post. I will ask the question again - can vendor A publish a theme in the marketplace, which is a replica of a theme by vendor B.  

Is it right for someone to use the work of someone else for their benefit? And if it is true that we are not the only victim in the nopCommerce community, why nobody else is saying anything about this? By keeping silent, you silently agree that this practice is right? That it is ok to offer pretty much the same product in the same marketplace?

Your response is surprising to us. Instead of being defensive, you can raise your voice as well against this practice. We don't wish to battle with other vendors. We just what something very simple and logical - that there are solid rules about the products getting published in the nopCommerce marketplace. After all, we are all trying to do business here, and it is somewhat disappointing to see a reaction like this or the lack of any reaction whatsoever.

To conclude this topic, I will just add one more thing, and I hope that now it will be crystal clear what we are trying to do here.

Below is an image of a presentation we did in Amsterdam in 2015 for NopCommerce Days.



And this is an image that someone has used for their blog post dated September 2019. The post was reshared by nopCommerce on Facebook.



I hope that now everyone will understand the magnitude of the problem we are trying to address.

You have both made points. Though I am not sure what you expect nopCommerce to do. Do they have to become the arbiter for what is the ”same” ?
What you are talking about is how capitalism works. The market and the world and the internet is full of copies and fakes. And now the internet allows the customer to find them all. Ultimately it then is up to the market(place) to decide. The customer must then weigh up all the information and decide what they will do. Other important factors like reputation, reviews, customer support, cost all come into play. Or to take an alternatively path the “owners” or producers use mechanisms like copyright, laws and lawyers to settle those questions, and we know who makes the money then. I don’t need to go to the internet and copy someone else’s story in here about What is free-market capitalism?

Then to pose a similar question back to you which of these three plugins should the nopTeam allow and why ?