U.S. Participates in Global Outreach to Combat Piracy and Counterfeiting
Officials from seven federal agencies traveled to Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Singapore on April 11 to further the Bush administration’s Strategy Targeting Organized Piracy (STOP!) and to increase cooperative enforcement efforts to combat international intellectual property rights violations.
Anti-Counterfeiting Bill Moves Closer to Passage
On April 13, the Judiciary committee in the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 32, the Stop Counterfeiting in Manufactured Goods Act. Passage by the Committee was a critical step toward a vote and expected passage by the House of Representatives, according to the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA).
R. L. Polk & Co.’s Ask the Industry Talks to Shop Owners About Counterfeiting
For several years now, the automotive aftermarket, as an industry, has made great strides to increase awareness of the issues of counterfeiting and intellectual property rights violations. With these efforts, we’ve come to learn of the startling problems taking place. While efforts are being made to stop trademark violations at the manufacturer level and to keep imported knockoff auto parts from entering the country, if a counterfeit part were to make it into the distribution chain, would shops know what to look for? For this week’s Ask the Industry, we talked to two shop owners to learn more about their knowledge and experiences with counterfeit auto parts.
House Crime Subcommittee Approves Anti-Counterfeiting Measure
Anti-Counterfeiting legislation is making progress on Capitol Hill. The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security passed the Stop Counterfeiting in Manufactured Goods Act (H.R. 32) without amendment on March 17.
Stop Counterfeiting Brochure Now Available Free to MEMA Members
The latest information on counterfeiting is now available through a new brochure created by the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA). The brochure — “Stop Counterfeiting of Automotive and Truck Parts,” is available free to members MEMA’s market segment associations: the Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association (AASA), the Heavy Duty Manufacturers Association (HDMA) and the Original Equipment Suppliers Association (OESA).
MEMA Releases Educational Counterfeiting Supplement
Distributors, retailers and automotive technicians looking for more information about automotive parts counterfeiting need to look no further. The Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA) recently released an informational supplement focusing on the issue counterfeiting in the auto parts industry. MEMA’s Counterfeiting publication was designed to serve as a resource guide for warehouse distributors, parts stores, retailers and technicians in the automotive aftermarket, as well as for parts distributors, fleet equipment and maintenance managers and service providers in the heavy-duty market.
Congress Introduces Anti-Counterfeiting Legislation
Yesterday, Rep. Joe Knollenberg (R-Mich.) introduced the “Stop Counterfeiting in Manufactured Goods Act,” H.R. 32 into the 109th Congress. The legislation is intended to strengthen the U.S. criminal statute against production and trafficking in counterfeited goods. This is great news for the automotive supplier industry, providing the industry an important tool in fighting product counterfeiting, according to the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA). The American automotive parts and components industry looses an estimated $12 billion in sales on a global basis to counterfeiting.
U.S. Government Seeks Industry Help Assessing Chinese Anti-Counterfeiting Enforcement Efforts
American industry support is needed to bolster the U.S. drive for tougher Chinese enforcement against trademark pirates. Each year, the office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) assesses worldwide compliance with the obligations of nations to protect trademarks and other intellectual property rights (IPR) in their countries. Given China’s central role in the spread of counterfeit trafficking hurting U.S. aftermarket and other manufacturers’ global sales, USTR is conducting an out of cycle review solely exploring China’s follow-through on its myriad enforcement commitments.
Chinese Officials to Discuss Ways to Combat Counterfeiting, IPO Violations at Automotive Suppliers Brand Protection Council Meeting
Representatives from China will discuss their country’s efforts to combat counterfeiting of U.S. automotive products and intellectual property rights (IPO) violations as well as the procedures to take action against them at the Brand Protection Council’s meeting, which takes place on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2005, at the Hyatt Regency, Dearborn, Mich.
MEMA Members Discuss Suppliers’ Counterfeiting Concerns with Leading Government Officials
Executives from several automotive parts manufacturers joined representatives of the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA) on Oct. 21 for a meeting to discuss the seriousness of the industry’s counterfeiting issue with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Under Secretary Asa Hutchinson and other members of his department. Hutchinson, who reports directly to Homeland Security Department Secretary Tom Ridge, noted during the meeting that the government will continue to devote resources behind fighting this growing problem and hopes that penalties for counterfeiters and those trafficking and selling counterfeit products will be increased.