Counterfeit Parts

Here's an article that was on the dealer news web site.

Related to this, I was talking to a rep for one of the companies, and he mentioned Vesrah being one of the companies impacted by 'knock-off' products. Dynojet was also impacted by this too - I don't know if it's still an issue, but a few years ago there were a slew of bogus jet kits appearing on ebay.

While motorcycle dealers who purchase vehicles, parts, garments and accessories from licensed brand representatives are largely protected from the trade in counterfeit goods, the growing trend of Internet purchasing by consumers gives criminal enterprises a lucrative outlet for the sale of pirated goods.

A new European Commission report shows that seizures of counterfeit goods smuggled into the European Union (E.U.) in 2008 more than doubled the seizures of 2007.

The European Commission says customs authorities across the 27 E.U. member states seized 178 million fake items in 2008, up 125 percent from 79 million in 2007. China remained the main source of counterfeit goods coming into the E.U., accounting for 54 percent of the total in 2008.

Although pirated DVDs, CDs and cigarettes were the most prevalent fake goods seized in Europe, the global motorcycle industry is no stranger to the problem.

The Federation of Asian Motorcycle Industries (FAMI) estimates that 5 percent to 7 percent of all motorcycle spare parts traded on the open market in its member states are counterfeit, and that 94 percent of those fake items were manufactured in Asian nations.

FAMI's membership consists of seven motorcycle industry associations in Asia, including ASIS (Indonesia), MASAAM (Malaysia), MDPPA (the Philippines), SMCTA (Singapore), TAIA (Thailand), TTVMA (Taiwan) and JAMA (Japan). FAMI is a member of the International Motorcycle Manufacturers Association (IMMA), an organization also including motorcycle industry associations from the United States, Europe, India, Australia and Canada.

FAMI says it has aimed to stamp out intellectual property rights violations by combining a task force, greater law enforcement efforts and a multinational marketing campaign designed to educate consumers in each country. The organization created an Intellectual Property Rights Task Force five years ago in response to observations that the greatest number of motorcycle-related knockoff products come from the nations represented by its members.

In June 2008, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA), a body representing the interests of Japan's four main motorcycle manufacturers, created a committee to focus on intellectual property rights. The committee's purpose is to create measures to help combat vehicle design imitation and the proliferation of counterfeit parts, create agreements/treaties banning the proliferation of counterfeit parts and imitation products, and promote international cooperation concerning global patent rights through partnerships in the U.S., Europe, China and South Korea.

The U.S. this year placed 12 countries on a "Priority Watch" list concerning inadequacies in intellectual property rights enforcement and protection. The countries on the list include China, Russia, Algeria, Argentina, Canada, Chile, India, Indonesia, Israel, Pakistan, Thailand and Venezuela.

"As U.S. right holders, businesses and workers suffer losses from international piracy, counterfeiting, and other forms of IPR theft," says United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk. "In this time of economic uncertainty, we need to redouble our efforts to work with all of our trading partners — even our closest allies and neighbors such as Canada — to enhance protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights in the context of a rules-based trading system."

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates that global trade in fake products is worth about $200 billion

Informative post, thanks. This suggests that we might be seeing more motorcycle related stuff on eBay that might be counterfeit. Caveat Emptor.

Ahhh, one of the many "benefits" of using off-shore labor. I know about a certaing musical instrument manufacturer who contracted with a Chinese factory to produce the parts for his patented instruments. Once in production, the Chinese factory was perfectly happy to build the instruments with any company's name stamped on them. Uniformed customers had no idea that the knock-offs were assembled and set up with much less care and expertise. The patent holder had no legal recourse since there are no IPR laws in China.

I can understand why most of the countries included on the "Priority Watch" list are there since they all have a noteable history of shady doings, but Canada??? :huh: :blink:

RetroRiceRocketRider wrote:

I can understand why most of the countries included on the "Priority Watch" list are there since they all have a noteable history of shady doings, but Canada??? :huh: :blink:

It's that damn conterfeit beer - Molsons selling their castoffs as Budweiser...

I know someone who works in trade-mark enforcement for H-D. It is a huge business, and one that a lot of trademark holders ignore because of the cost of enforcement. H-D, however, along with some other "big name" companies (Rolls-Royce for example) will go after anybody they find who is using their logo without permission.

Note that often the trademark goes beyond the entire logo - H-D will go after folks who use the "shield and bar" design even if it has no reference to H-D at all!

A number of people dislike the term "Intellectual Property Rights" as they believe it confuses and muddies the definition of specific legal terms and the frameworks of Patents, Copyrights, and Trademarks. There is little overlap between the three and each has a different basis in law and a different method of enforcement. I'm no expert, I just know that there are those who warn against the use of IPR as a generic term as some people oppose certain patents but that does not mean they also oppose copyrights and trademarks but someone will twist that as opposing IPR in total which they really don't.

As for bike parts, substandard parts are annoying at best and life threatening at worst. Therefore, I pledge to support established supplies such as Jeff.

Phony items spread in every corner, if you don’t know how to check the branded from the fake one, you’ve got deceived. There are some anti-piracy activists and the Department of Homeland Security that are starting to monitor and traffic those who transport bogus goods. In the future, those who do so could face fees and maybe even jail time. Article source: Consumers next target of anti-counterfeit crusaders?

Jeff.Saunders wrote: RetroRiceRocketRider wrote:

I can understand why most of the countries included on the "Priority Watch" list are there since they all have a noteable history of shady doings, but Canada??? :huh: :blink:

It's that damn conterfeit beer - Molsons selling their castoffs as Budweiser...

No wonder butt wiper gives me a bubbly feeling in my head and pisses me off.
Instant ass hole; just add Bud.

I put up a thread about Chinese motorcycle chains sold on eBay. Yes they are dangerous and of inferior in quality but what is more troubling is the fact you can't complain to the seller after you have a problem. Blocked. On the seller discussion boards there's more and more complaints about Chinese goods being sold and being given preferential treatment over the local sellers. I posted a complaint about this and it was taken down. On another topic I was talking about shill buyers and the fact there are some sellers that out bid then list at ten times the price and how to out wit them. I WAS DOG PILED by some I suspect employees, ridiculing me for even talking about it. I was hearkened as to being a Communist and being a bad sport by whining about not getting my way. What I was doing was pointing out a way to make the crook think I wanted the item in question while watching another, making small bids on it and when the other was about to expire buying the other one instead. It was fun watching the fight that ensued. What bothered me was only about 10% was on my side. I have been both a buyer and seller there and have been burned both ways.

BTW, the items I had bid and lost on are still for sale at the ridicules prices a year later, bidding seems to be slower now and new listings seem to be selling at more reasonable prices. Let the greedy ones sit on and fondle their parts. Serves them right.
Steve