Patent trolls aren't even the worst thing going on with patents anymore... attempting to fix that problem has brought about an even worse scenario where the new game is being a big enough fish to just outright get patents revoked so you can legally steal ideas from anyone not big enough to defend themselves, thus completely defeating the purpose of the entire patent system.
But while budget minded threads are generally far more likely to highlight social inequalities, political issues, etc, etc... this line of commentary feels pretty digressive and even as I type this, I can't help but wonder if I should bother to hit reply.
Let's wrap it up around KZ products then!
I guess we are here to celebrate the liberation made possible by Chinese companies, to democratize good sound and high fidelity. KZ is one of the most successful and, by the size of this thread, celebrated brands in this regard. But the way they are doing it is not perfect, and maybe they are not listening enough to their overseas costumers (or maybe it is not their interest to do so, regarding the size of the Chinese domestic market). KZ should have taken off already, with a lineup of 100% original products, instead of getting a too-close "inspiration" on companies such as Sennheiser (the IE80), Audio Technica (ATE/ATR), some European custom iem brand I can't recall (ZS3), Campfire (ZS5/6)...
I think they were on the right track with the ED9 and they should have come already with an original design for their other IEMs...
I don't think people buy KZ's products to look like they have the expensive original stuff. At least here where I live (at the tip of continental Europe), people don't care much about IEMs and the mainstream market is very small. Sometimes I stroll through the stores looking for some novelties and all you can see is some Sony, Philips, Pioneer, JBL, a very few Senns (the cheapest ones), a very few JVC, the freakin' Beats, the Bose and, mainly, the store-branded crap that you get for 3 or 4 euros. No one here would care if I was sporting a 1000 euro IEM or one of those crappy earbuds. In fact, as in most places around Europe, most people I see are using the iPhone earbuds and the stock Samsung IEMs while they commute, along with some Sony or Pioneer on-ear headphones.
Just the other day my colleagues noticed I had a new "thingy"... "aw its so cute..." "is it expensive"? It was the Benjie S5... (and I usually take the FiiO X3II with a leather case and an external amp...). So, social and economically speaking, in most of the western world, IEMs and portable audio gear won't give you style or "street credit" or whatever. Not at least as much as branded clothes or handbags or an iPhone...