Many business leaders are nervous about operating in the Far East due to concerns over the loss of intellectual property. And rightly so, stories of cars being copied almost to perfection and sold on the open market within weeks of the official launch are all-too-common. In fact, IP theft in China is so embedded in the culture of the economy that many have given up trying to fight it. 

So it was refreshing to hear an example the other day of when IP theft goes horribly wrong. 

The company in question was Meile, a European manufacturer of high-end domestic goods - white goods such as fridges, cookers and other appliances. 

Planning the launch of a new vacuum cleaner, Meile had developed a number of prototypes. To the naked eye, they appeared like final products - certainly enough to fool your average intellectual property thief.

And that's exactly what happened - some hapless criminals got their hands on one of the prototypes and copied it. Bugs and all. The result was a flood of malfunctioning, rip-off Meile vacuum cleaners on the open market. 

While one in the eye for the bad guys, the story does have a more serious side. Depending on what is being copied, the risks to the public can be huge. The last thing you want is a car wheel to fall off when travelling at 80 miles an hour, after all.

On top of this, the damage to Meile's reputation can also be severe - not all consumers will recognise the difference between counterfeit goods and the real thing.