Exclusive: Plantronics sues broker over illegal imports

Manchester firm accused of dealing in non-EU products which have been made to appear like they came from the area

Plantronics is suing a Manchester firm it accuses of selling Plantronics gear imported from outside of the EU that has had counterfeit labels applied to pass it off as authorised kit from the region.

Manchester-based Digiphone Limited is facing legal proceedings as a company, and two of its directors - Thang Phan and Thaison Ngan - are also being sued in a personal capacity too. Digiphone could not be contacted for comment as its website contains only an image of a product and no contact details. Neither director appears to be listed on LinkedIn.

At the start of 2013, Plantronics resellers and distributors alerted the vendor about the company and said it was involved in unusual activity. In response, Plantronics carried out a number of test purchases as part of its investigation and its suspicions were confirmed. The vendor said it was keen to carry out a number of test purchases to gauge if it was a one-off or a regular occurrence.

Plantronics' head of UK sales Paul Dunne said he could not name the specific products it claims Digiphone has been dealing in illegally, but told CRN it was an "industrious activity" for the firm.

"It was product that was imported illegally into European Union and then it was dressed to look like European product," he said.

Dunne added that Plantronics would normally be prepared to seek an in- or out-of-court settlement depending on the willingness of the third party to cooperate, but said in this case, the situation calls for court action.

He told CRN one of the main motivations of taking Digiphone to court is to prove to its channel how seriously it takes the issue.

"We want to make sure we protect our reputation, and not just ours and that of our products, but our reputation in terms of how we manage the channel and how we work with and grow our business with people who want to develop the market with us. Partners we work with do a huge amount of work in terms of market-development activity and that's something we are determined to support."

Dunne could not name the specific products it claims Digiphone has been dealing in for legal reasons, but said if any resellers are concerned, they can contact the vendor directly.

He added that Plantronics takes "all reasonable steps" to monitor the whereabouts of its products.

"We work with the authorities in the European Union and the UK but I think we have proved in this case that there are organisations that will always look for an angle," he said. "Again, what we are saying is we have the will and resources to deal with this type of [thing]."