HINs - Towards Sanity in the Knockoff World

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Why should Prada have a government-backed monopoly (their Trademark/C/whatever) on their handbags? Instead of going after Chinese factories making knock-offs (cheap or otherwise), why not go the Microsoft route? Prada could create 'Certificates of Authenticity', with serial numbers, etc. If you buy a Prada bag, you go to their web-site, and register the unique ID associated with the bag. Heck, Prada could even watermark their bags with HINs (Handbag Identification Numbers).

It certainly doesnt prevent people from creating imitation bags, but hey, even if the bag gets made in the same factory, and is virtually identical, it wont have the HIN, which means it isn't The Real Thing.

Which does bring up the associated point - Why *do* people buy knockoffs? Maybe
  1. It makes people feel good about themselves. Great. In this case, they won't buy the knockoff anyhow
  2. It allows people to show off to others about what they have (and the others dont). In which case, if they need to buy knockoffs to show off, what does this actually say about the intrinsic worth of a Prada bag?

I assume there are other reasons, but HIN or not, I'm not quite sure I can even begin to understand why I would need to walk around with a Fake Prada. Mind you, I can't begin to see that anyhow.
Not even if it was a Man-Bag.
Wait, especially if it wasn't a Man-Bag...

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