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IF you
can’t lick them, crack them.
Honda
Philippines Inc. (HPI), in coordination with its
principal Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (HMC), destroyed on
Wednesday 22 fake Honda general-purpose engines at the
De La Salle University,
Bacolod
premises, in place of a motion to withdraw seized
articles for destruction it filed before the Regional
Trial Court of Bacolod City in June.
“Honda
Philippines is not only concerned with protecting its
intellectual property rights but is more concerned with
the safety of the public who would be in danger of using
inferior products,” Tetsuro Matsumoto, assistant to the
president of HPI, told the BusinessMirror in an e-mail
interview.
For his
hard-line stance against counterfeiting as an invasion
of ones’ IP rights, HPI assistant vice president for
legal lawyer Brigido Valmadrid said, “Honda will
continue to create new and better products out of its
own ingenuity and innovative talents and reaffirm its
commitment to protect the interest of consumers against
fake products.”
He also
commended the government’s stepped-up fight against
pirates and infringers as “a big positive step in
protecting these rights. The strong cooperative efforts
between the IP owners and the law-enforcement agencies
will definitely frustrate the malpractices of
unscrupulous businessmen who ride on the popularity of
well-known brands.”
During
the destruction activity granted by Judge Roberto
Chiongson of Bacolod RTC, Branch 50, all the fake Honda
general-purpose engines were drilled and pounded into
pieces to make sure that nothing can be salvaged for
reuse.
The
destroyed 22 fake Honda engines were the items seized by
National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents in a
simultaneous raid they conducted two years ago at the
three dealership establishments owned by Jose Zulueta—the
New Ultra Parts Inc., Fieldmaster Agro & Industrial
Sales Inc. and Super Ace Marketing Inc.
The
destroyed items, comprised of the GX 390 and GX 160,
among other models, were sourced by the offender from a
local dealer, who’s importing the face engines from
China, said Editha R. Hechanova, lead counsel of HMC.
In May
2006, Hechanova, on behalf of HMC and HPI, executed and
filed three separate affidavit-complaints with the
Department of Justice (DOJ) against the owner of the
erring enterprises.
Meanwhile, pending the preliminary investigation of the
three legal suits she filed against the infringer, the
respondent amicably settled the dispute with the
Japan-headquartered motor company by executing an
undertaking, which the latter and its Philippine
subsidiary accepted.
Under
the compromise agreement, the offender will cease and
desist from peddling products breaching the Honda
trademark, whether directly or indirectly; forever
refrain from dealing in products similar to any and all
models of Honda products; not infringe the IP rights of
HMC and HPI, and not to conduct any activity that will
be interpreted as unfair competition; and cause
publication of a public apology in two newspapers of
general circulation.
“This
[the case] is Honda’s way of stopping these
counterfeiters from their illegal operations that give
them a bad name,” said Hechanova, one of the managing
partners of Hechanova Bugay & Vilchez law firm.
Honda
has been the market leader since the local introduction
of its general-purpose engines in 1991.
Known
for its superior quality, these powerful products
captured 39.38 percent of the market in 2006, or an
increase of 9.37 percent from the recorded share of
30.01 percent in 2000, according to sales reports for
the years 2000 to 2007 by the Agricultural Machinery
Manufacturers and Distributors Association Inc.
The
Honda general-purpose engines, which are manufactured
either in Japan or Thailand, are compact in size and
used for marine purpose (motor of banca), agriculture
(sprayers, blowers, micromill), transportation
(motorized trisikad) and cons-truction.
As to
their identification, Hechanova said that genuine Honda
general- purpose engines are easy to distinguish from
the counterfeit ones with the former’s distinctive color
combination of red, black and white.
Moreover, she pointed out that the motor company only
uses “Honda” as its trademark, with no alterations from
other brand names like “Honda Technology,” as used by
the violating Bacolod-based Honda dealer.
While
the “copycat” engines are obviously cheap by one-half of
the original price of genuine Honda engines at P10,000
to P12,000, quality-wise, however, the HMC legal counsel
warned that “fake Honda engines are corroded and
defective.”
When
asked about the effect of counterfeiting of Honda
general-purpose engines on the business of the motor
giant in the Philippines, Hechanova referred to the
affidavit of complaint filed by the company against
another counterfeiter of similar case stating that the
motor firm “has been unable to meet our sales target
from the time the China copies have been introduced to
and proliferated in the market.”
The
sworn statement further says that Honda estimates that
its net loss is about P250,000 monthly, or P3 million
annually, from fake versions of Honda general-purpose
engines. |
