Epson continues raids on counterfeit ink manufacturing units

Epson has fought fiercely against the counterfeit ink business and has taken measures to curb the sale of counterfeit bottles. To protect the rights of its customers, Epson conducted a series of raids in Mumbai and Chennai recently, where operatives have generated information about fixers involved in filling, bottling, packaging and distributing counterfeit Epson ink. In an effort to send a strong message of zero tolerance towards the sale of fake cartridges, the police in different parts of the country have stepped up their cooperation and efforts to arrest and terminate such practices.

On the basis of the information shared by Epson vigilance team, the Mumbai police raided the premises of a dealer in a swift and well-coordinated action on 4th October. Ashok Prajapati in Kalbadevi area of Mumbai was engaged in packaging of counterfeit Epson ink bottles for various printer models and was supplying those counterfeit packed Epson ink bottles to various retailers in Mumbai and in other cities. The police seized 1773 counterfeit ink bottles, 4110 empty bottles with Epson trademark, 10342 pieces of bar code stickers, 30200 ink bottle wrappers & stickers of Epson and 215 litres of inks from Mumbai. In terms of quantity of seized counterfeit materials, this is one of the biggest raid actions done so far. Similar raids were carried out by Chennai Police on 15th October & 18th November in the city.  Police conducted raids in T. Nagar and Saidapet area and successfully seized counterfeit products of Epson in large quantity. The dealers were involved in the manufacture and supply of counterfeit Epson Ink bottles. Nearly 500 Ink bottles with the mark “Epson” were seized along with other printing materials and machines used by this business for making counterfeit Epson ink bottles. They also seized 2729 Epson Ink Bottle labels from the dealers. A seizure memo and FIR has been registered against the owners of the businesses.

A spokesperson at Seiko Epson Corporation said “We view the infringement of our patents very seriously and counterfeiting would be the most important of these. We will continue to fight against those that inappropriately use Epson’s patented technology. We would like to extend special accolades for Mumbai & Chennai police force in successfully conducting these counterfeit raids and limiting the damages to a bare minimum. Maintaining high standards of corporate ethics while encouraging everyone to respect the rights is the paramount objective at Epson”.

Seiko Epson Corporation will continue to back the enforcement authorities for such raids in future. This is to further safeguard its interests and to defend the business of its authorized dealers. This practice will also act as a constraint to the manufacturers and dealers that engage in this offence.