Found this on a different forum, HPI Europe's response to the Baja clones:
Dear Baja Fans and Baja community,
HPI Racing is aware of the appearance of Baja ‘clones’ on the market and the discussions about them on internet forums and other places.
Most Forum members here have already correctly said that these are blatant copies and have nothing to do with HPI’s Baja.
However, HPI would like to make a few statements about the clones and the discussions about them:
General comments:
1. HPI welcomes all discussions about the company and its products on internet forums or anywhere else.
2. HPI is a brand well known for innovative, market-leading designs which bring new excitement to the RC world. The best examples of this include the Nitro RS4, Micro RS4, Savage and now the Baja 5B, which has clearly inspired the large-scale scene around the world. Research and development and high quality production of these products costs money. Like in all industries, product imitation discourages innovation and such products only ride on the back of successful concepts without contributing any new ideas to the industry.
3. These Baja clones are simply cheap, unauthorized copies. They are not made at the HPI factory, or any factory associated with HPI and they have got absolutely nothing to do with HPI’s production.
4. Do not be fooled by pictures. In our experience, very often these so called clones have not yet been made. A replication factory makes a few of their own components and then assembles a car using 80-90% original HPI parts that they have bought in a regular shop. With this method they appear to have a finished product with which they gauge the market. The final imitation products might not resemble the “prototype” at all and are often of even lower quality.
HPI will consider legal action in the following cases:
1. Companies use HPI’s original pictures and artwork without any authorization to market their products and to mislead customers about the origin and nature of the copy product. HPI will of course consider legal action against these copyright infringements , either against the originator, or the website carrying the copyright protected material.
2. HPI will not accept public statements on forums or websites that are simply untrue and made without any proof or are not clearly identified as an opinion. 3. HPI will consider legal action against the originators of any such statements, or the websites carrying them.
HPI will consider legal action against the factories and anybody selling or importing these blatant direct copy products into any market.
4. In particular, HPI EU will take legal action against the first importer of these cars into the EU, who would under EU law be fully responsible for ensuring the compliance of the product with the relevant EU laws.
Best regards
HPI Europe - Marketing
www.hpi-europe.com