Product and brand protection technology: news in brief
GuardLab has contracted VerifyMe to provide anti-counterfeit features for its mouthguard products – a premium 3D-printed product designed to provide teeth and gum protection for athletes. The two companies expect VerifyMe’s authentication technology to be incorporated into GuardLab products before the second quarter of 2016. This agreement marks VerifyMe’s first partnership with a medical device manufacturer. Around $81m was spent on mouthguards in the US in 2014, according to Statistica.
9 charged in counterfeit cancer drug smuggling case
The country’s highest prosecutor’s office has ratified charges against nine people, most of them executives in a private drug company based in Ho Chi Minh City, for allegedly smuggling in fake cancer drugs worth over US$251,000.
Nguyen Minh Hung, CEO of VN Pharma, four company executives, and Vo ManhCuong, director of shipping company H&C, face charges of smuggling, according to the indictment by the Supreme People’s Procuracy.
http://www.thanhniennews.com/society/9-charged-in-counterfeit-cancer-drug-smuggling-case-60198.html
No escape for counterfeiters, says Alibaba’s Jack Ma
Alibaba’s Jack Ma told the company’s anti-counterfeit team that fake product sellers should have no place to exist in China.
Alibaba’s Jack Ma told the company’s anti-counterfeit team that fake product sellers should have no place to exist in China. Jack Ma, founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, has vowed to crack down hard on counterfeits, using technology to ensure fake product sellers have “no place to escape and no space to exist” in China. Speaking in a recent Alibaba anti-counterfeit team meeting, Ma promised the team unlimited resources and said he would personally join every meeting related to fighting fake products. “Today we are not launching an Alibaba team but a national team to fight fake products,” Ma said, according to Sina Tech which published a script of the speech on Monday.
http://gbtimes.com/business/no-escape-counterfeiters-says-alibabas-jack-ma
Lear MoreCrackdown on fake phones commendable
According to TCRA Communications Manager Innocent Mungy, a survey carried in 2012 indicated that at least 38 per cent of the handsets in use then were fake. Many sub-standard and counterfeit mobile phone products entered the local market illegally creating an influx of counterfeit phones that have flooded the market almost putting out of business genuine handsets because they are sold cheaply.
TCRA announced in February 2016 that Tanzania was set to switch off all counterfeit mobile phones on June 16 in a move aimed at protecting consumers from substandard phones, safeguard mobile payment systems and prevent crime.
You’ll Hear a Lot about the Black Market in Coming Election
The black market will be a legitimate issue in many of its various forms in the coming November election. Referring to the black market, of course, means illegal traffic in officially controlled commodities.
On Monday, the California State Sheriffs Association came out against the proposed gun control measure backed by Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, in part, arguing that the measure would not prevent criminals from obtaining guns and ammunition illegally on the black market. One feature of the measure is to require background checks for ammunition buyers—something the sheriffs understand criminals will avoid. If criminals want ammunition and guns they will turn to the black market.
http://www.foxandhoundsdaily.com/2016/03/youll-hear-a-lot-about-the-black-market-in-coming-election/
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Coalition to announce ballot initiative to raise ND tobacco tax
BISMARCK – A group of partners is proposing a ballot measure to increase the tobacco tax in North Dakota, after state lawmakers defeated two efforts last year to raise the tax for the first time since 1993. The coalition, Raise it for Health North Dakota, will announce its plans during a press conference at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the North Dakota Association of Counties building at 1661 Capitol Way in Bismarck.
Kristie Wolff, program manager of tobacco control and advocacy for the American Lung Association in North Dakota, said the coalition would not release any details about the ballot initiative before then.
http://www.inforum.com/news/3987081-coalition-announce-ballot-initiative-raise-nd-tobacco-tax
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S. Korea’s Nano Brick begins supplying anti-counterfeiting solution to global firms
Nano Brick Co., a small- and mid-size enterprise in South Korea involved in nanotechnology, is drawing the attention of many global firms with its simple but innovative technology that identifies counterfeited goods with a thin sticker called M-Tag. The new technology is an outcome of eight years of intensive research and development.
According to Nano Brick, the company has started to supply M-Tags, a security solution that help sort out counterfeited goods, to local and foreign companies this year including Shandong Jingzhi Liquor Co., the producer of China’s well-known Jing Yang Chun liquor, SAEC Co., Japan’s electronic components manufacturer, as well as Jayjun Cosmetic and The Oozoo, Korea’s two leading mask pack manufacturers. Nano Brick has also begun the supply of M-Tags to the licensing company of Walt Disney in Southeast Asia. The company received orders of the thin, squared shaped sticker (1.5×1.5cm) after going through a long period of evaluation.
http://pulsenews.co.kr/view.php?no=193352&year=2016’
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Tobacco gangs using truck drivers’ cabs to smuggle cash
Tobacco smuggling gangs are hiding plastic bags stuffed with hundreds of thousands of euro in cash in the cabins of foreign-bound trucks in a new system to siphon off their millions. Customs officers have identified the trend after making a number of seizures, in one case involving a bag containing almost €300,000 in cash. In the vast majority of cases, the truck drivers claim they have no idea how the bag of cash got into their cabin — but Customs suspect they either do it for a small payment or under duress.
Tanzania to make public statistics on counterfeit mobile phone
The Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) said on Sunday it will soon release figures on fake mobile phone handsets now being used in the east African nation, the region’s second largest economy. Many sub-standard and counterfeit mobile phone products entered the local market illegally and that it has been difficult to control such influx, Mungy told a news conference in the country’s tourist epicenter of Arusha.
http://www.newsghana.com.gh/tanzania-to-make-public-statistics-on-counterfeit-mobile-phone/
Lear MoreGovt should bring in regulations to counter selling of fake goods online: CEO
The Government of India should bring in regulations to counter selling of fake goods online, said Ameen Khwaja, Founder/ CEO, LatestOne.com.LatestOne.com is an e-commerce business defined in the category of specialty online retailers focused on tech & mobile accessories. Speaking to SME Times, Khwaja also said, “Most of the e-commerce marketplaces are selling sub standard products at cutting prices since they have less control or no control over quality of products sold by the sellers.”