Brand Protection

Siyabonga Mbuthu – Warehouse Manager – JHB

How can you protect your products against Counterfeiting in South Africa?

• The Counterfeit Goods Act enables the owners of certain intellectual property rights or any other person with an interest in the protected goods, including the licensee, importer, exporter, distributor and/or a duly authorised attorney or agent, to act speedily and efficiently on either a criminal or a civil level against persons involved in counterfeiting.

Which intellectual property rights are protected under the Act?

• In terms of the Act, the counterfeit goods must feature either a trade mark that is registered in South Africa, or constitutes a trade mark that is well known in South Africa, (whether registered or not) or a copyrighted work and/or must contain a prohibited mark that is protected under the provisions of the Merchandise Marks Act.

The Process

1. Investigation into the Manufacture and Distribution of the counterfeit product
2. Test purchasing and product analysis
3. SAP Case opened investigation done from their side
4. Search and Seizure Operations (Raids arranged)
5. Transported from and to warehouse facility
6. Safekeeping of Goods/Evidence – Civil or Criminal
7. Criminal action support and liaison with Government agencies
8. Goods go for destruction or given back to client.

What can we offer…

• Assessment of the applicable intellectual property rights
• Conducting of raids and seizure of counterfeit goods
• Counterfeit investigations and co-ordination or international investigations
• Civil proceedings and criminal procedure support and assistance
• Combating on-line counterfeiting

Types of Raids Conducted

• Disruptive Raids
  • Custom and JMPD involved
  • Target street vendors stalls
• Formal Raids
  • Search operations with SAPS
• Custom Raids
  • Target ports/harbours, airports, warehouses
  • Identifications are made by informers

Customs and JPMD Involved

Targeting Street Vendor Stalls

Counterfeit Storage Facility

	Goods are booked in and a receipt is issued All goods are labelled and stored in a designated area per client File is kept with the chain of evidence from the time the goods are received until destruction instructions have been received and finalised

Destruction – Counterfeit Goods

	We do our own destructions on site at our warehouse in Honeydew We issue destruction certificates showing the before and after process to our clients

Counterfeit Going Green

	Material produced by our destruction machines is re-used in filling boxing bags for James Gilbert SA. We are recycling the counterfeit products into something useful!