Havells India Limited Company: The fight against counterfeiting

Gulf Network

Havells India Limited – an Indian multinational electrical equipment company, has just recently embraced the significance of taking initiatives in protecting their IP rights in the United Arab Emirates. 

In the recent conduct of enforcement against a notorious trader who was revealed to be dealing with counterfeit Havells products, a favorable judgment has been achieved and upheld upto the appellate court in less than 10 months!

SHARJAH – Tuesday, July 25, 2023: The Brand Protection team of Havells India Limited, an Indian multinational electrical equipment company, who manufactures home appliances, lighting for domestic, commercial, and industrial applications, LED lighting, fans, modular switches and wiring accessories, water heaters, industrial and domestic circuit protection switchgear, etc., teamed up with the Sharjah Economic Development Department and Sharjah Police to combat trade in counterfeit products and protect consumer rights and safety.

They seized a significant quantity of Havells changeover switches and stickers.

It is noteworthy to mention that there were another 59 pieces of changeover switches without Havells stickers which otherwise were kept there to be branded with Havells’ stickers and passed off as genuine.

Havells was keen on taking legal action against the target, as it is illegal to offer Havells stickers with any unbranded electrical products.

After receiving initial information about this company trading in counterfeits, Havells conducted an in-depth investigation against the counterfeiter. It was then raided by the Sharjah Authorities and the counterfeit Havells products were seized.

Indeed, after series of Court hearings, a judgment was pronounced by the Criminal Court on January 3, 2024 in favor of Havells India Limited, which stipulates the following:

The Court proceeded to convict the two defendants for the offences of forging a registered and protected trademark and imposed the payment of AED 20,000 as a fine by each defendant.

The judgement is now considered final since this has not been contested by the two defendants.

Even though the defendants challenged the verdict by filing an appeal, on February 26, 2024, the Court of Appeal upheld the judgment issued by the Court of First instance in favor of Havells India Limited and rejected the appeal filed by the opponents and it was considered final as the defendants did not file a petition before the Court of Cassation.

Now, the necessary steps to proceed with the destruction of the counterfeit Havells products have been processed.

The Enforcement Authorities are continuing their efforts with collective expertise to secure the consumer safety, rights and revenues of manufacturers by cracking down on the criminals that prosper from the black market. Eliminating the trade of imitation brands in industrial tools and products requires further cooperation from the purchasers and end-users, coupled with smarter strategies by the manufacturers and distributors to tackle the criminals who are involved in this.

In UAE, the import and distribution of counterfeit products are illegal with serious penalties for those found guilty. Whoever is involved in counterfeiting products and trading them will be subject to stringent legal procedures and penal actions. Any counterfeit products recovered from raids will be confiscated and destroyed.

The Authorities promote a proven and secure system to protect the rights of consumers and revenues of manufacturers, with zero tolerance to this illegal side of doing business in the Country.

Roma Arora (General Manager Legal) and Harsh Aggarwal (Senior General Manager Legal)  of Havells said: “We applaud the strong support extended by various Government bodies in the region, and especially the Sharjah Police and the Economic Development Department (SEDD) for this major successful raid. It sends a clear message that Havells and the Enforcement Authorities will not tolerate counterfeits or cheap imitations which not only damage Havells’ brand reputation but also make consumers victims of fraud and illicit dealings. Havells manufactures high-quality life-saving electrical devices like circuit breakers, isolators etc. Counterfeits of such products have significant safety risks to households as they lack internal safeguards, resulting in a significant risk of fire, explosion, and danger to human life and safety.”

They added to say that “…we are extremely grateful to the officials at the Sharjah Police and the Economic Development Department (SEDD) for being so cooperative and without whom these successful raid actions would never have been possible. We are going to continue the fight against counterfeits to help protect the consumer and our brands in the UAE with the towering and continuous support of the Hon’ble  authorities. “