Charges pressed vs 3 Binondo retailers for sale of counterfeit sealants
INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANIILA, Philippines—The Manila City Prosecutor’s Office has recommended criminal charges against three retailers for intellectual property right violations for allegedly selling counterfeit versions of a popular sealant brand.
In separate resolutions, prosecutors found probable cause to charge three hardware stores with trademark infringement for selling fake Super Vulcaseal Elastomeric Sealants in Binondo, Manila.
Trademark infringement carries penalties of two to five years imprisonment and fines ranging from P200,000 to P500,000.
“We welcome this development and we are very grateful to our customers who brought to our attention the proliferation of fake products carrying our name and brand being sold in Binondo.,” said Bostik Philippines in a statement.
It said the campaign against makers of counterfeit Bostik products will be relentless.
“We will put an end to this deliberate attempt to besmirch our name, brand and reputation that we’ve built over the past years,” it said.
Bostik Philippines sought help from the National Bureau of Investigation to put under surveillance three retail stores in Binondo after receiving reports that counterfeit products were being sold at these stores.
Acting on the request by Bostik Philippines, NBI agents launched a series of surveillance operations in March and conducted test buys in shopping malls in Binondo.
NBI agents obtained the products through test buys and brought these to Bostik for checking. The items, including one that carried the brand name Super Vulcaseal, were found to be fakes.
The Manila City Prosecutor’s Office recommended the filing of charges against the owners of the three retail stores, who failed to show up during preliminary investigation.
Counterfeiting “taints the reputation of our company,” said the Bostik statement.
“We are determined to protect the good name of our brands,” it said.
TSB
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