Images from the raids (Credit: VAR India)
The OEM discussed a recent raid in the country, and how it is “intensif[ying] its fight against counterfeit products”.
VAR India reported on how the OEM is “one of the many global brands affected by the illegal counterfeiting of its products”, and how it “works closely to fight against counterfeiting on a worldwide basis, to protect the valuable Canon brand and to safeguard the customer value that comes with using genuine Canon products”, because counterfeits are “often manufactured in poor manufacturing conditions”.
Having been “fighting against counterfeit[s] in India for more than 10 years”, the OEM “always encourages reporting any possible counterfeit activity” to “safeguard the interests of their customers”, as well as customer “right[s] and [its] brand reputation”, with this seeing it “actively extending anti-counterfeit raids all over the country”, as there are “regular instances of counterfeiting around the country and Canon tries to bring the offenders to book”.
One such example was a recent raid on 18 August “at a manufacturing unit in Kalachowki, Mumbai”, where counterfeit Canon toner cartridges, boxes and packaging materials were seized. The raid saw “one person associated with the crime” arrested, and the seized material “brought to Kalachowki police station for legal action”.
The OEM added that counterfeiting “is one of the most deadly viruses that affect[s] the entire IT industry”, because it “not only tarnishes the image of original brands but also adversely affects the economy”, with China “the biggest source of counterfeit goods in Asia”. Canon estimates that “as much as 30 percent of the counterfeit products worldwide are being manufactured in China”, with “data from a reliable source” finding that counterfeiting “contributes nearly eight percent to China’s GDP”.
In terms of India and its market, counterfeits are “easily accessible”, with metropolitan areas or “metros” the “main spots for manufacturing infringed products”. Users of counterfeits “risk poor equipment performance” such as “low toner yield, inferior print quality and toner leakage”, and should be “cautious of possible indicators of counterfeit products” including “suspicious packaging, unusually low prices” and “the manner in which the products are sold”.
The OEM concludes that it “takes a zero tolerance stance towards counterfeit products”, and has been “pursuing counterfeit products in India for many years”, noting that “to fight” these products, a “unique Canon hologram is included on the packaging of all genuine Canon ink cartridges, laser toners, copier toners, cameras and camcorder batters”.
This hologram “has a unique colour-changing feature which appears as an iridescent gold when viewed from the front”, but changes to a “dark iridescent green when tilted horizontally”, and “if the hologram is counterfeit, this colour change does not occur or the change is slight”.