Brother International Europe released its ‘Brand Protection Report 2021’, revealing it encountered over 40,000 violations during 2021.
As part of a partnership with brand protection agency Incopro, Brother has enforced the ban of more than 28,000 online offers that violated trademark and copyright rights and another 16,000 misleading offers in Europe in 2021. Brother also took action against more than 80 websites that misused the Brother brand, either through infection with malware or through fraudulent activity.
Brother said its efforts are focused on online marketplaces such as Amazon, which are widespread in Europe. In 2021, Brother removed 990 ASINs (Amazon Standard Identification Number) for trademark abuse and 148 ASINs for patent infringement.
Isao Noji. Chairman & Managing Director of Brother International Europe Ltd. stated:
“Protecting Brother’s intellectual property remains one of our most important issues. In 2021, we encountered over 40,000 violations that misled our customers and could harm them.
“In 2021, working with multiple investigative agencies and lawyers, we also uncovered, investigated and prosecuted 10 cases of counterfeiting involving a number of counterfeiting networks.
“It is extremely important for me to emphasize this as customers looking for a good deal may in good faith buy what they believe to be Brother products, unaware that they are in fact counterfeit. For this reason, Brother continuously invests in the fight against trademark infringement. This is to protect our customers and their investments.”
Last year Brother also launched a more comprehensive anti-counterfeiting programme to address the increase in counterfeiters both online and offline. In addition, the company said it is also intended to make its customers and partners aware that they should always observe the following:
- Buy from approved channels, suppliers and retailers.
- Check the authenticity of the product. For more information, go to https://www.brother.com/consumables/original-brother-consumables/anti-counterfeit
- Check the packaging and print quality
The company said that customers that are unsure and wish to report a potentially counterfeit product they can do so at www.brother.com/id or contact Brother directly at IPRinfo@brother.co.uk.
