SHANGHAI, Feb. 28, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Honeywell (NYSE: HON) announced today a victory for intellectual property rights and trademark protections following the convictions of two individuals for trademark counterfeiting in China of its well-known brand of Garrett turbochargers.
The successful prosecution occurred in the city of Fengcheng, Liaoning Province, a hot spot for counterfeit turbochargers. In this case, Fengcheng's local enforcement authorities raided an underground counterfeiting workshop in 2010 and seized 285 pieces of counterfeit "Garrett" turbocharger housings.
On Dec. 31, 2011, the Fengcheng court notified Honeywell that Baohua SHAN and Renzhi LIU were both found guilty under the crime of trademark counterfeiting. Both were sentenced to one year in prison and one year of probation, plus a criminal fine of RMB20K (around US$3.2K).
The 2011 conviction follows a similarly successful 2010 ruling for Honeywell against corporate counterfeiters in Fengcheng, also discovered in a proactive raid by local authorities.
"The creation of intellectual property assets, which include patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets, helps sustain our ability to do business in China and around the world," said David Paja, Honeywell Transportation Systems vice president and general manager for China and India. "China's continued enforcement of intellectual property laws helps strengthens Honeywell’s long-term commitment to growing in China with state-of-the art technologies and innovations."
During the past few years, Honeywell has pursued nearly 40 successful administrative raids and civil actions against copycats of its "Garrett" turbochargers in cooperation with the Fengcheng government. The local Administration for Industry and Commerce (AIC) in Fengcheng proactively launched a year-long special campaign against counterfeit turbochargers in 2009 as a result of working with Honeywell.
Honeywell Turbo Technologies is the leading automotive turbocharger developer in the world, and is a business unit of Honeywell Transportation Systems. As a leading automotive supplier, Honeywell Transportation Systems enhances vehicle performance, efficiency and appearance through state-of-the-art technologies.
Honeywell International (www.honeywell.com) is a Fortune 100 diversified technology and manufacturing leader, serving customers worldwide with aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings, homes and industry; automotive products; turbochargers; and performance materials. Honeywell has a long history in China that goes back to 1935 when it established the first franchise in Shanghai. Today, all of Honeywell's four Strategic Business Groups are represented in China, and all of them have relocated their Asia Pacific headquarters to China. Over the years, Honeywell has set up subsidiaries and joint ventures in over 20 cities across the country. Honeywell employs approximately 12,000 people in China. For more news and information on Honeywell, please visit www.honeywell.com.cn.
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