HP, Govt, others fight product counterfeiting

Sharing is caring!

Hewlett Packard recently hosted an Anti-Counterfeiting Conference in Abuja to help fight against fake products and fraudulent marketing.

L-R: Tolulope Lawani, Marketing Manager, Printing & Personal Systems West Africa, Hewlett Packard; Dr Joseph Odumodu, Director General, SON and Jean-Paul Pinto, District Manager, English Africa, Hewlett Packard at the HP Anti-Counterfeit Conference in Abuja.

The conference attended by government officials, representatives of ministries responsible for Anti-Counterfeiting in education, trade, economy, health, procurement officials, press, top tier partners of tech companies and law enforcement organizations responsible for Anti-Counterfeiting around the country.

A statement from the company said participants at the summit were expected to discuss consumer protection, ways to raise awareness and fight against the sales and purchase of fake goods while protecting customers from being cheated by illegal scheming.

L-R: Geoffrey Eyles, Regional Investigations Manager/Europe, Middle East & Africa, Hewlett Packard; Sam Mattock, Chief Executive Officer, Hallidayfinch and Dr Joseph Odumodu, Director General, SON at the HP Anti-Counterfeit Conference in Abuja.

HP Brand Protection Programme Manager, Printing and Personal Systems Group, Mr. Jeff Kwasny, said, “False goods negatively impact businesses and global trade through lost revenue, damage to brands and their hard-earned reputation and consumer confidence.

“At this summit, we are bringing together those most affected by counterfeits in the region – from policymakers to brands like Unilever, Evans and Microsoft – so we can work towards tackling this criminal activity together.”

As a leader in the high tech industry sector, and a company that places a priority on protecting customers and its brand, HP is expected to raise awareness on the impact and consequences of counterfeit trade during its one-day summit in Abuja.

Reports show that there is an increase globally in the trade of counterfeit goods. Africa, particularly Nigeria, is increasingly being targeted as a market for counterfeit merchandise.

African nations are therefore becoming increasingly aware of challenges that counterfeit trade poses to their economies and their citizens, and becoming active in the fight against it.

Original HP supplies are distinguished by their superior quality and reliability at competitive prices. Authentic HP LaserJet and HP inkjet print cartridges, unlike counterfeits, benefit from a history of investment and testing to provide superior performance and consistent results.

Across Europe, Middle East and Africa region, over the last five years (2009 to 2013), HP has conducted around 1,600 investigations, resulting in about 1,300 enforcement actions (raids and seizures by authorities) and around 11 million units of counterfeit products and components seized, thus preventing them from being sold in the EMEA marketplace and beyond.

The programme has also overseen around 4,000 unannounced inspections of HP products at the warehouses of HP Channel Partners across EMEA in the past five years (2009 to 2013), to verify that counterfeit products are not being sold to their customers.

Through its Anti-counterfeiting Program, HP actively educates its customers and partners to be vigilant against fake printing supplies. It also cooperates closely with the local Nigerian and global law enforcement authorities to detect and dismantle illegal operations that produce counterfeit HP printing components.

The world’s largest technology company, HP brings together a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure to solve customer problems.