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MOTORINDIA
l
July 2012
61
direct responsibility of the board
of directors/brand owners. The vi-
sion and mission statement of the
company should be communicated
to all the stakeholders and custom-
ers. This can be done by putting the
information on the company’s cor-
porate website, including it in the
annual report or circulating it via
intranet in the form of a document
or video. (Companies like Mercedes
Benz have a section on their website
which defines their steps towards
product protection).
As for monitoring and developing
an intellectual property strategy, the
technology solution can be helpful
in identifying and authenticating
the original from the counterfeit.
It is however very important that a
planned surveillance program be
in place to constantly monitor that
there is no infringement. Equally
important when an infringement
is seen is that immediate action is
taken so that the guilty is punished
and the others sitting on the “fence”
deterred.
The new ISO 12931 is in the final
stage and will soon be published. It
will be a very useful document for
anyone who wants to follow the
globally accepted standards and ap-
proach to fighting against the coun-
terfeit. The ISO document can be
seen on
http://www.iso.org/iso/cata-
logue_detail?csnumber=5221.
While the counterfeit parts trade
has dramatically increased in vol-
ume, tackling counterfeits is not
impossible. This is a problem that
needs to be addressed quickly and
decisively. Ideally, as a first move,
more effective partnerships should
be built between law enforcement
agencies and the private sector
with focus on intelligence sharing,
awareness and product identification
training.
Manufacturers should create a
team that focuses on anti-counter-
feiting strategy. Selection of the
right anti-counterfeiting strategy is
very important. However, involve-
ment of all segments of the auto-
motive and heavy-duty industries is
essential to ensure the project suc-
cess.
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focus on aftermarket