Shure Inc. announced that in October 2018, a police raid on a factory in China manufacturing counterfeit products, Enping Soundpu Electronics Equipment (also doing business as Voxpu Electronics Equipment), took place, with close cooperation and assistance from the Enping Public Security Bureau (PSB) and the Enping Administration of Industry and Commerce (AIC). According to Shure, the targeted factory is a repeat offender and known counterfeiter to the Enping enforcement authorities. Soundpu was fined in August 2018 by the Enping AIC after counterfeit Shure wireless microphones were found at Soundpu’s factory premises during a routine market investigation carried out in April 2018.
In addition to Shure, other audio companies were impacted by the counterfeit operation, including Sennheiser, Yamaha and Harman. Among the goods seized were wireless microphones and receivers, consoles, amplifiers and processors. Shure has taken steps to initiate a criminal prosecution against the owner and managers of Soundpu, given its continued counterfeiting activities and blatant disregard for intellectual property rights. Sennheiser, Yamaha and Harman will be assisting Shure with the forthcoming criminal prosecution of Soundpu.
“Counterfeiting is an ongoing problem for the audio industry, and we remain vigilant in our anti-counterfeiting efforts,” said Chris Schyvinck, Shure president and CEO. “Shure is deeply committed to protecting our valued customers from low-quality counterfeits and ensuring that our customers experience only the quality of a genuine Shure product every time they purchase a product bearing the Shure name.”
“Brand and product piracy is a problem that demands to be taken seriously. Just as in other sectors, audio companies are affected by the trademark and product piracy that impacts brands that manufacture high-value products,” said Dr. Andreas Sennheiser, Co-CEO of Sennheiser.
“Counterfeit products do not just exasperate customers by delivering a bad experience that does not reflect the promise of the brand,” added Daniel Sennheiser, Co-CEO of Sennheiser. “These cheap counterfeits also fall short in terms of quality and in some cases dangerously so. This damages the industry as a whole and we welcome joint action against violations in order to better protect consumers.”
“Yamaha has long taken various measures against counterfeit products such as civil actions, police raids, suspensions from customs and placed enlightening advertisements globally, particularly in China,” said Takuya Nakata, president and representative executive officer of Yamaha Corp. “We have done so because we firmly believe that these activities will not only protect our valued customers and end users from low-quality counterfeits but also lead to an improvement of reliability and trust in our brands.”
“Harman is committed to protecting the integrity and image of its brands and will not hesitate to vigorously defend against the unauthorized use of our intellectual property,” said Mohit Parasher, executive vice president and president, Harman Professional Solutions. “We will continue to partner and cooperate with industry leading manufacturers such as Shure, Yamaha and Sennheiser, investigators, and law enforcement agencies around the world to safeguard our names, designs and trademarks. It is critical that we ensure our customers are protected from counterfeit products.”