Four arrested with counterfeit printing supplies of the HP brand in Sri Lanka
View(s):HP this week announced the seizure of 190 counterfeit supplies in Colombo in Sri Lanka.
The raid was conducted by local police teams in Colombo recently with authorities seizing 116 counterfeit ink cartridges and 74 counterfeit toner cartridges. Four individuals were arrested and will be subject to criminal prosecution, the company said in a media statement.
HP said it cooperated with local law enforcement to make this action possible and added that it 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.
“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 David Llamas, Global Brand Protection and Anti-Counterfeit Manager, Printing and Personal Systems, HP.
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 inserted into this packaging that closely resembles genuine HP packaging.
The diligence of the HP anti-counterfeiting programme in the Asia Pacific region has resulted in law enforcement agencies successfully confiscating more than 25 million units of counterfeit cartridges and components in the last 4 years.