Lexmark anti-counterfeit team raids Turkish warehouse

Vendor war on print consumables piracy bears fruit across Europe

Lexmark investigators and police have raided a warehouse in Turkey as part of the vendor's continuing efforts to dam up supply of counterfeit print consumables.

According to the vendor, this latest raid followed investigation into a person who had previously been charged with trademark counterfeiting in Turkey.

"The warehouse contained counterfeit supplies for several printer brands, and police officers seized about 1,000 counterfeit Lexmark supply items from the location," Lexmark said in an official statement.

In February Italian officers raided a warehouse near Milan and seized almost 40,000 counterfeit Lexmark supply items in a repackaging plant for building complete counterfeit cartridges of multiple brands.

"These recent events underscore the availability of counterfeit printer supplies in the market," Lexmark stated.

The vendor is also trying to clamp down on the supply of clone toner cartridges it believes violate Lexmark patents in a number of countries. Lexmark has already taken legal action against manufacturers, distributors and resellers of such cartridges, finding success in the US and Germany.