Lepin

Here is an observation for all our readers who are grandparents.  No doubt you have heard and seen Lego, but did you know there was Chinese Lego which is 100% compatible with the more well known Lego.  It’s called Lepin and is considerably cheaper than Lego.
I priced a large Lego model of the Millennium Falcon from Amazon Australia.  The price was $1517.  The Lepin model is slightly larger and has more pieces.  The cost was US$199 (Aust $289).  The Lego version was five times the price.  The Lepin price does not include shipping or any local taxes.  However I suspect the Lepin will still be cheaper.
Are the models the same.  After looking at the photos they look very similar but, not quite the same.  Moreover the Chinese version is slightly larger and has more pieces. 
Lego is manufactured in Denmark, Hungary, Czech Republic Mexico and China.
Is it illegal to buy Lepin? 
In late 2018 Lego took Lepin to court in China for breach of copyright and they won.  In May 2019 Lepin announced it was ceasing production but would continue to sell existing stock.  Since then Lepin has resurfaced in various forms and locations.  Production continues.  As far as I am aware it is illegal to sell Lepin in the USA and EU.  However it isn’t illegal to own Lepin or purchase it overseas.   Note it is possible any Lepin entering the USA or EU may be confiscated.
I believe Lego has a valid claim when it states their designers do all the hard and expensive work designing their models which Lepin then copies with minor changes.  This significantly reduces Lepin’s R&D costs and they also have cheap production costs in China.  Well they did until Lego established a factory in China!
According to it’s website Lepin was founded in 2003.  It claims to manufacture a wide range of toy brick products.  However when you look at their range of the more popular items it seems to replicate the Lego range. 
I remember a conversation I had with an American manufacturer of container handling machines.  He informed me the company would never establish a manufacturing presence in China.  The short term gain in reduced labour costs would quickly vanish when the Chinese stole their intellectual property and established a parallel production system.
So why did Lego establish a factory in China.  Surely they realised their product would be copied?  I suspect the answer lies in this press release <link>.  Growth in US and EU markets is now in low single figures whereas Lego sales in China have reached double digits. 
I believe Lego knew exactly what was going to happen if it started production in China.  However the flattening of sales in their traditional markets led them to believe significant financial revenue could be made in China.  Lego knew the risks of doing business in China and still went ahead.  I have little sympathy for them.