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18 Jan 2010
Comments:1
FujiFilm has declared war on unscrupulous importers trying to flood the UK
channel
with counterfeit versions of its data storage tapes.
The offending products, said FujiFilm, are imported into the UK packaged as
new,
despite being second-hand and up to 10 years old.
The firm claims to have intercepted “large quantities” of counterfeit products on their way into the UK and said it has “sufficient evidence” to link the source to the US.
Further reading
A source at Trading Standards said channel firms caught selling the counterfeit products could face unlimited fines and up to 10 years in prison for breaching the Trademark Act 1994.
Additionally, any profits made through the sale of the products would have to
be
repaid under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. Roger Moore, strategic business
manager at FujiFilm, said the vendor has settled out of court against two firms
caught trading in counterfeit tapes and is working closely with its channel
partners to trap others.
“Our partners have been alerting us to the presence of suspicious products on the market,” said Moore. “We have also been able to trace back supply links through the information provided to us by our resellers.”
Terry Betts, managing director of FujiFilm partner CCS Media, has been working with the vendor to identify rogue channel traders by purchasing suspicious products on its behalf.
“When we have passed on the tapes we have purchased to FujiFilm for testing, three out of five of them have not worked,” added Betts.
Geoff Dance, company director at FujiFilm partner PMD Magnetics, added: “The losers in this chain of events are the end users, because they think they are buying a new, reliable product, when they are, in fact, purchasing second-hand, used tapes.”
He added: “FujiFilm has protected the brand, the industry and end users from this sort of trademark infringement and exposure to potentially severe data loss.”
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Do you agree?
Counterfeit tapes
Fujifilm are clearly taking a lead in the fight against counterfeit / 2nd hand data tapes. I note that other brands including Maxell & Imation and also published revealing data regarding their own issues with counterfeit tape products. I have been in the industry for over a decade, and this is the first time that I can remember manuafacturers / vendors pulling together to the benefit of the end-user and the industry. Long may this co-operation continue!
Posted by Matthew Gwynn - PMD Magnetics | 19 Jan 2010
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