HP partners report that between January and March 2021, authorities in Austria and Germany have already seized 5,000 counterfeit HP products.
According to a report by the ICT Channel, HP partners reported that local law enforcement authorities in Austria and German customs officials at airports worked with HP’s Anti Counterfeiting and Fraud (ACF) team to seize thousands of counterfeit HP toner cartridges and computer components.
Susanne Kummetz, Director Commercial and Consumer Channel at HP Germany said: “The sale of counterfeit components and toner cartridges is an infringement of intellectual property with serious consequences for the business of sales partners and distributors. Illegal products also offer a poor user experience and can damage the hardware under certain circumstances. Original HP supplies are designed to deliver consistent quality results that users can trust.”
There have been over 12 million counterfeits and components seized throughout the EMEA during the past years by local authorities backed by HP Inc and the OEM itself has conducted more than 4,500 “audits and inspections of partners stocks or suspicious deliveries”.
HP Inc’s ACF programme is responsible for educating its customers and partners on what to look out for in counterfeit products and works closely with local and worldwide law enforcements to find and destroy illegal operations that produce fake HP Inc printing consumables.
