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HP Computers steps up anti-counterfeit measures
Shina Badaru
ITTelecom Editor,
Just back from Dublin, Ireland
United
States computer maker, Hewlett-Packard (HP) at the weekend announced plans to
step up new measures to further enforce its intellectual property rights over
growing counterfeiting of its products.
Vice-President
and General Manager, IPG Supplies Business, Europe, Middle East and Africa
(EMEA), Hewlett-Packard (HP),Mr. Kim Holm, said growing incidence of
counterfeits of HP products is a criminal activity that confuses the market and
end users.
The safe
measures are already in Nigeria where HP is undertaking counterfeit detection
and other trainings for local security agencies towards a planned major
enforcement measures due to take of fat the major ports of entry nationwide.
It will seek
to stem the tide of counterfeit products from Dubai, Asia and other markets
into Nigeria.
Holm spoke
when the company opened its Dublin Inkjet Manufacturing Organisation in Ireland
to select technology journalists from Europe, Middle East and Africa to
showcase new technologies in ink, inkjet and printing.
HP said its
anti-counterfeit programmes hoped to fight counterfeiting and fraudulent
marketing of its printing products like print cartridges, adding that police
raids had led to the seizure of more than 800, 000 products across EMEA.
This has
been achieved through 1,530 leads received from its staff, business partners
and end users in over 830investigations and 216 legal actions across the region
at the end of July 2004,the company said.
Holm said,
�In HP we are seeing some countries peaking more that others. Asia has higher
propensity. China, Singapore and Korea. Russia has higher propensity and the
one place that has the most activity right now is Turkey.�
He said the
company is taking further steps to implement countermeasures by affixing
security tags on all its products, a scheme that as already taken off in South
Africa to differentiate genuine products from counterfeits, refilled,
remanufactured or reconditioned products.
He adds
that, �we can only do that in terms of information, capture leads and use the
local authorities to enforce. Essentially it is a criminal activity and there
is a lot of money involved. Supply is probably the smallest of the problems,
clothing perfumes and stuffs like that are much larger. We are very concerned
about fraud and counterfeits. We are very concerned because it confuses channel
because they think they are buying the right thing. It confuses the customer
because they think they are buying the right thing and both of them have a bad
experience.This is technology, it is not a fabric, it�s a technology.
So, we
follow this particular leads, we inform and we enforce. That is basically what
we do and we have been very successful over the last two years.�
He said the
company is innovating new products to ensure it captures a new market in the
new trend towards digital photography.
This is
largely driven by the projected momentum from silver halide analogue processes
to digital photography enabling end users to instantly shoot and print their
photographs.
�What inkjet
printing has made possible is as good or even better, according to some
observers, printing in your home and taking digital cameras with instant
gratifications.
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