Ramifications Of Raids

Whether you like it or not, the raid raj is here! First, it was in Chennai,
then it was in Pune. There were raids in Mumbai as well. Vendors have begun
taking concrete measures to protect their intellectual property rights.

Vendors are indeed entitled to act the way they have because they look for
returns on their investments. If misguided partners indulge in gray market
operations and come in the way of vendors getting what is due to them, then
dealers themselves are to be blamed.

Vendors are not going to allow counterfeit and fake goods eat into their
profits. They invest heavily on research to develop their products and want to
religiously guard the intellectual property rights over them.

But looking at the results of recent raids so far, it doesn’t look like the
agency acting on behalf of vendors has done its homework. In Pune, for instance,
three partners who were raided were released without charges being pressed.

In Chennai five partners were arrested and released on conditional bail.
These are now contemplating to file a defamation case against the agency who
took action against them because partners concerned were selling genuine
products.

But the damage has been done. Reputations built over years were shattered in
a few hours. The mental agony of being interrogated for hours together for no
crime committed had a telling effect on the morale of partners.

The agency which initiated action on behalf of vendors has to certainly pull
up its socks to ensure that genuine partners are not harassed. If a defamation
suit is going to achieve this objective, so be it.

On the other hand, partners have to realize that as long as black sheep among
them continue to sell fake and counterfeit, remarked and repackaged products,
these raids will continue. Partners have to be ready for the worse and keep
their transactions above board.

What is also required is an increased dialogue between vendors and partners.
A bigger educative effort by vendors to make partners aware of how genuine
products are packaged and how to distinguish these from fake, would generate a
lot of goodwill among partners.

Trade associations too have a critical role to play here. First, they need to
dissuade their members from indulging in business practices that violate
intellectual property rights.

Temptations are indeed there to make a quick buck when the going is good. But
it will not help partners in the long run. Only a business built on ethical
practices will bring in long-term benefits.

Second, trade associations should initiate greater dialogue not only between
vendors and partners, but also with Enforcers of Intellectual Property Rights,
the agency that acts on behalf of vendors. Partners in Chennai are disturbed
that while one vendor has shown willingness to talk, the other is adamant on
sticking to legal processes.

The pro-active action on behalf of trade associations would go a long way in
stopping the harassment of genuine players in the market. Also, these efforts
will help in bringing about a conducive business atmosphere.

Sylvester Lobo