Bangkok--11 Apr--Hill and Knowlton
Protects customers from fraudulent products through the seizure of more than 2,000 counterfeit products
HP announced the seizure of over 2,000 counterfeit supplies in Bangkok, Thailand. This seizure was conducted by local police teams in Bangkok. The authorities seized more than 1,000 toner cartridges and various components used to make counterfeit HP toner cartridges.
HP partnered with local law enforcement to make this action possible. HP vigorously defends its brand and intellectual property for Original HP supplies by engaging in industry leading anti-counterfeiting practices to combat the fraudulent manufacture, distribution, and sale of counterfeit HP supplies products.
“Our commitment to our customers is the driving force behind the vigilance of our anti-counterfeit team, as we understand how the sale of counterfeit HP products negatively impacts our customer and the HP brand. With counterfeit HP print cartridges, customers purchase what they often assume to be a genuine HP product, but they instead receive a cartridge that provides them with inferior print quality at best and often times a cartridge that fails to perform at all. Through our anti counterfeiting efforts, HP is determined to protect our customers and our brand.” said Jeff Kwasny, HP’s IPG Brand Protection and Anti-Counterfeit Manager, who is based in Vancouver, Washington, USA.
A counterfeit product is a product which has been made to look identical to or substantially indistinguishable from the genuine or original product, usually for the purpose of deceiving consumers. Counterfeiting of printing supplies usually involves the illegal printing of HP-branded boxes, labels and security seals. Often refilled cartridges containing inferior inks and toners are used and then inserted into this packaging that closely resembles genuine HP packaging. The counterfeit cartridges are ultimately purchased by consumers that believe them to be genuine.
On a global level, HP maintains an aggressive approach to anti-counterfeiting and has conducted nearly 5,000 investigations in 88 countries over the last four years. This activity has resulted in the seizure of over 30 million units worth of counterfeit printing supplies products worldwide over this same time period. (1)
Helping consumers identify counterfeit printing supplies
As part of its global anti-counterfeiting program, HP takes a proactive approach to alerting and educating consumers on how to identify counterfeit printing supplies. HP also incorporates state-of-the-art technology in their products and cartridge packaging to help consumers identify fraudulent supplies.
All HP cartridge packaging in the Asia Pacific region displays a security seal with color shifting technology that helps consumers easily identify original HP supplies. Customers can learn more about how to use this security seal as well as other best practices to avoid purchasing counterfeit cartridges at www.hp.com/apac/nofakes.
About HP
HP creates new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on people, businesses, governments and society. The world’s largest technology company, HP brings together a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure at the convergence of the cloud and connectivity, creating seamless, secure, context-aware experiences for a connected world. More information about HP (NYSE: HPQ) is available at http://www.hp.com.
Figures derived from seizures during the period of 2007-2010.