Copycats Take a Bite Out of the “Shark Tank” Pie

Imitation isn't the sincerest form of flattery.

"Shark Tank" (GettyImages)
"Shark Tank" (GettyImages)
ABC via Getty Images

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Some entrepreneurs who’ve gone on the TV show “Shark Tank” with their ventures have found themselves bitten by imitators, according to the Wall Street Journal.

In the report, Nicki Radzely, top executive of Doddle & Co., which makes brightly colored silicone pacifiers that snap themselves closed when they fall on the floor, says that copycats crept in about six months her “Shark Tank” appearance in January 2018. Radzely, 38, got Amazon.com to remove some of the clones, according to WSJ. She’s considering legal retaliation.

Copycats are always a business reality. Being on a popular TV show is like chumming the water for mimics, the businesswoman added: “If we weren’t on ‘Shark Tank,’ the copycats maybe would have been a little show to enter.”

On the other hand, sometimes people who appear on the ABC series are the ones accused of stealing ideas, including one for a dating service.

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