- The NFPA has ended an India-based operation that was printing counterfeit affiliation publishing
- The investigation focused a broad counterfeit community that’s reproducing and promoting unauthorized NFPA publications.
- The continued litigation continues to be pending
QUINCY, Mass. — The Nationwide Hearth Safety Affiliation (NFPA), in coordination with legislation enforcement officers in India, disrupted what the affiliation calls “a serious operation producing and distributing counterfeit NFPA publications.”
The enforcement motion, together with a civil raid carried out in late March within the Delhi area, focused what NFPA has recognized as “central gamers in a broad counterfeit community liable for reproducing and promoting unauthorized NFPA publications by business-to-business marketplaces and different on-line channels.”
This motion is “a part of ongoing litigation and stays pending earlier than the court docket, the place the defendants may have the chance to reply to NFPA’s allegations,” based on the NFPA announcement.
“Counterfeit codes and requirements should not simply an mental property difficulty; they’re an enormous public security danger,” says NFPA president and CEO Jim Pauley within the affiliation announcement. “NFPA codes and requirements are relied upon by engineers, hearth service professionals, electrical professionals and others who work to guard individuals and property daily.
“When counterfeit variations enter the market, customers could unknowingly find yourself with incomplete or inaccurate info. That places belief, security and compliance in danger,” he says.
What Did the NFPA Counterfeit Investigation Discover?
Primarily based on info gathered throughout the investigation, authorities seized “a big quantity of printing supplies, together with roughly 1,000 printing plates, and located proof that NFPA code books and different supplies have been being actively produced on the time of the raid,” based on the affiliation announcement.
The case “highlights the real-world security implications posed by counterfeit codes and requirements,” the announcement says.
NFPA has encountered “quite a few examples of shoppers who believed that they had bought reputable publications, solely to find lacking pages, poor print high quality and different defects that compromised the integrity and use of the product,” based on the announcement.
Pauley additionally expressed “his deep appreciation” for “the vital help” supplied by native officers in India, with out which this operation wouldn’t have been potential.
“This motion displays NFPA’s aggressive dedication to safeguarding the integrity of its codes and requirements, that are relied upon globally to help hearth, life and electrical security,” based on the affiliation announcement.
Why Does NFPA Defend Its Publications Across the World?
NFPA “vigorously protects its mental property and the general public from counterfeit and unauthorized supplies,” the announcement says. The raids and seizures in India “mark the most recent successes,” following earlier last judgments in the US in opposition to a number of counterfeit operations and associated litigation in India, the place courts have already issued two preliminary injunction orders in help of NFPA’s claims.
NFPA “will proceed to develop its efforts in combatting counterfeit each within the U.S. and globally,” based on the affiliation announcement.
The affiliation develops greater than 300 hearth, electrical and life security requirements by an open, consensus-based course of involving 1000’s of volunteers. These requirements “are usually up to date to handle rising hazards and are utilized by professionals around the globe to safeguard communities,” the affiliation says.
NFPA urges customers to buy publications straight from the affiliation or by approved sources “to make sure that they’re receiving genuine, full and up-to-date supplies.”
