In a bold and decisive move aimed at curbing the sale of non-genuine Epson Ink cartridges, police recently raided the premises of a dealer with two large consumable shops in the Fort area of Mumbai.
The two shops Mital and Gami’s were raided on 10thJanuary evening in a swift and well- coordinated police action with over 12 policemen as part of the raid party. The dealer was arrested along with an employee of his and charged under the prevailing laws of the land with counterfeiting and violating intellectual property rights and subsequently remanded to judicial custody. 6,000 refilled cartridges were seized and the refilling unit was shuttered. A massive illegal racket which was catering to large parts of west and central India was terminated. 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.
Earlier in October 2012, the police in Chennai raided the premises of a well-established IT dealer and arrested him for selling fake Epson cartridges. The dealer, Sanguine IT Solutions located at Anna Salai in Chennai, was raided and its owner arrested by the police from the Triplicane Police Station. Sanguine IT Solutions was caught with 235 numbers of fake T5852 cartridges. The T5852 cartridge is used in Epson’s extremely popular Picturemate Series of printers. The police acted with a sense of urgency once the complaint was filed and went ahead with the raid.
A spokesperson of Seiko Epson Corporation said, “We applaud the efforts of the Indian police to curb this menace and will wholeheartedly assist and support the law- enforcement authorities in all such crackdowns.” He went on to say, “Epson takes great care to observe the law and regulations and maintain high standards of corporate ethics, while at the same time expecting others to show appropriate respect for its rights. We will continue vigorous enforcement of our intellectual property rights to protect our innovative products against those who use Epson's patented technology, trademarks and other intellectual property without permission.”
Seiko Epson Corporation says it will move swiftly to help enforcement authorities for such raids in future to protect its interests and protect the business of its authorized dealers.
