energy chain - original and counterfeit

Anyone who develops and manufactures good products will attract counterfeiters and imitators. This (unfortunately) also applies to igus®. We currently hold more than 1000 industrial property rights (patents and trademarks) in over thirty countries and repeatedly come across counterfeits or plagiarisms of our energy chain.
Some of these are brazen imitations - with the igus® logo or a similar sounding product name, but only a fraction of the service life. In some cases, however, competitors do not check the patent situation carefully and adopt design details that are still protected by valid igus® patents. Of course, this is also an infringement of the law.

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The legal side

A patent is effectively the inventor's reward or recognition for investment in research and development and for inventive talent: for a certain period of time - for the duration of the patent - the patent holder may exclusively use his innovation or grant rights of use. Anyone who infringes this right must expect to be prohibited from commercially utilising the product in question. According to case law, this includes manufacturing, offering, putting into circulation and using as well as importing or exporting the product - but also the mere possession of the product for one of the aforementioned purposes. If a patent holder realises that his rights are being infringed, he can take legal action to defend himself - by bringing a civil infringement action or through criminal or customs proceedings.

Patent infringement can be expensive

The first legal step following the discovery of patent infringements is usually the "request to issue a cease-and-desist declaration". If a patent infringement lawsuit is (or has to be) filed, the costs can run into five to six figures. This is because the scale of fees for such proceedings is based on the value in dispute, which in turn is based on the turnover achieved with the patented product, among other things.

The (patent) law is enforced

Just a few years ago, international prosecution of patent infringements and plagiarism was difficult to enforce. This has changed. The majority of plagiarised products from igus®-energy chain are manufactured in China and the authorities here are now very effective in enforcing patent rights and cooperative in the prosecution of more or less clumsy plagiarism.

The result: every year, at our instigation, many plagiarised products from other manufacturers are prosecuted. After successful patent infringement suits (or after a settlement following the filing of a suit), the (injection moulding) tools used to manufacture the counterfeits are often secured and subsequently destroyed. We also often discover counterfeits of igus®-energy chain or patent infringements at trade fair stands. Or our trading partners give us a tip-off. We investigate every tip-off so as not to jeopardise the good reputation of our products.

What to do if you suspect a counterfeit?

If you suspect that an alleged igus®-energy chain is a counterfeit: Please contact igus® - the head office or the national subsidiary. Contact us now.

As we primarily want to take action against the manufacturer of the patent or trade mark infringing product, we ask you to name the source(s) of supply if you have installed a copy. If you have used the plagiarised product in ignorance of the patent situation or the fact that it is a plagiarised product and you provide us with sufficient support in enforcing the patent rights against the manufacturer, we will not take legal action against you.