Counterfeiting: More heinous than what meets the eye

Nitin Hiranandani
Director – Printing Systems
HP Personal & Printing Systems

Counterfeiting has been slowly eating into the vitals of the IT market. If this problem is not checked right now, the market will deteriorate further. This damaging effect would rather worsen the problem.  HP has been striving to augment an anti-piracy drive which would purge the apparent counterfeit market.  Nitin Hiranandani, Director – Printing Systems, HP Personal & Printing Systems, speaks more about it to VARINDIA. Edited excerpts  

Why is counterfeiting difficult to check?

Counterfeiting is designed to mislead the public and all those who are involved in buying and selling the product. It is very difficult to track the counterfeit products as to where they have originated from, where the shipment originated, and who is responsible for exporting the products.

Counterfeiters are lured by easy money in the contraband business, even when they know that what they are doing is illegal and can lead to severe penalties. This is why stopping counterfeits completely can be a difficult task. However, effective identification of counterfeit goods and subsequent strict action against counterfeiters can certainly lead to minimizing the supply of counterfeits in any market. This calls for support from all key stakeholders – vendors, customers and channel partners – as all of them have their interest and stake in the fight against counterfeiters.

How are counterfeit cartridges discovered? And how can companies/individuals report counterfeiting?

Vigilant customers and channel partners are able to discover counterfeits by using tools like HP Mobile Authentication or by carefully inspecting the security labels on the packaging. Counterfeit products can be reported directly to HP via counterfeit incident reporting form available on our website. All information that is shared by the consumers is kept strictly confidential. 

Subsequently, it is for vendors such as HP to proactively take appropriate steps against counterfeits. HP, for example, works closely with the police and external law-enforcing agencies to discover and report the prevalence of counterfeit cartridges. 

Who is the real victim of counterfeit cartridges? Is it the manufacturers or consumers or retailers?

As far as counterfeits are concerned, everybody is a loser. For manufacturers like HP, counterfeit cartridges can undermine the customers’ trust in HP brand-name products, as well as in legitimate dealers’ businesses. This is why HP is so serious about protecting its trademarks and its brand, and is continuing its fight against counterfeit products in order to keep its customers safe from counterfeit products. 

Retailers, on the other hand, run the risk of falling on the wrong side of the law by stocking or selling counterfeit cartridges. Finally, consumers stand to lose the most as they pay a lot of money for a cartridge believing it to be an original, but end up with a refilled product that will never give them the printing quality of an original cartridge.

How does HP go about prosecuting? What is the protocol?

HP has a zero-tolerance policy and takes strict actions depending on the circumstances of the violation. The HP Supplies Anti-Counterfeit Programme (ACF) raises awareness among HP partners, customers and local authorities as to when to become suspicious about the sale of counterfeit cartridges and how to report leads about counterfeits. In addition, the programme ensures the stocks of HP’s wholesale and commercial partners are free of counterfeits, by conducting random inspections (Channel Partner Anti-Counterfeit Audits). HP is also an active member of a number of not-for-profit international brand owners’ associations worldwide, supporting governments and law-enforcement agencies.

How do HP customers feel about your anti-counterfeiting programme for HP cartridges? Do they support HP's efforts? Are they getting involved? If so, how?

We have received tremendous support and appreciation from our customers for our anti-counterfeiting measures. Our customers understand the risks of using a counterfeit cartridge and are aware of how it can adversely impact their business. In many cases, suspicious counterfeit activity has been reported to HP by our customers.

Our commitment to our customers is the driving force behind the vigilance of our anti-counterfeit team, as we understand how the sale of counterfeit HP products negatively impacts our customer and the HP brand. 

moumita@varindia.com