Four sellers of inkjet cartridges have been pardoned by the OEM after selling fake Canon cartridges for almost four years.
More than 100 cartridges were seized from two shops in Pyinmana and 49 from two shops in Nay Pyi Taw, with a total value of approximately K1 million ($774/€681), Myanmar Times reported.
Canon opened a case at Myoma Police Station in Nay Pyi Taw on August 28, citing sections 468 and 486 of the penal code, and seized the counterfeit cartridges. Section 468 prohibits forgery for the purpose of cheating, while section 486 forbids selling goods marked with a counterfeit trademark.
The counterfeit cartridges were being sold at less than five times the price of the originals. The OEM has since agreed to settle outside of court, said Daw Tin Ohnmar Htun, Canon lawyer and Vice Chair of the Asean Intellectual Property Owners Association.
U Han Myo Aung, Managing Director of Aung Myin Thu Computer, Printer and Accessories Sales and Services published an apology to the OEM through state-owned media earlier this month, along with U Ye Thu Ya, Manager of Laser IT and Mobile Shop.
Canon previously said it would establish a Myanmar production facility until IP laws were properly enforced, with its genuine products currently being imported from China. Singapore-based Canon representative Inez Siantar said last year that its products, including ink cartridges, are widely imitated at a wholesale level in Myanmar, hindering its prospects there.
Four draft IP bills were published in July which could lead to stricter punishments and great awareness of the rights of manufacturers
Htun commented: “I don’t want our people to go to court, and they don’t want to hurt Japanese business. They have apologised and signed an agreement not to sell imitation products in future.”
U Aung Soe, an IP expert, commented: “We have to consider labels, if we want our country to develop. Don’t steal from other people’s brains to produce imitations.”