BY A. K. Das
For curbing spurious activities and organizing police raids, one needs a lot intelligence and presence of mind at all levels, starting from identifying products to completion of the raid. A wrong step at any stage may lead to failure of the raid and life risk. Knowledge of criminal law, trademarks, and copyright laws with updated judgments are also essential.
PRODUCT IDENTIFICATION: The investigation starts from the day of receipt of complaint from sales colleagues. The spurious and counterfeit products can be identified from the following:
* Selling price in the market * Weight of the product * Printing on the wrapper * Perfume or smell * Product finish * Laboratory analysis
* Selling price in the Market: The infringed or counterfeit product sells much below the Town Dozen Rate. But nowadays, it is found that the original products also sell at a much lower price. This may be due to a) stocks stolen in transit, b) infiltration from neighbouring states, where the taxes are low, c) the neighbouring town RS must have sold at high discount in order to honour the cheque, or d) the trade schemes run in previous JC’s. Hence the testing of such products is highly essential in order to get confirmed that the product sold in the market is a spurious one.
* The weight of the product: Generally, the spurious products are heavier in weight and small in size because the density of the product is higher.
* Printing on the wrapper: It is essential that the law officer look at the wrapper/packaging materials. The spurious products are packed in a wrappers printed in a press by using wooden blocks or by matching the colours manually and so the printing of one colour overlaps the other and the colours do not match with the colours of the original product. At times the wrappers are printed by using sophisticated printing machines and rejected cylinders. In such cases, the thickness of the letters will be thicker and the picture on the wrapper will not have clean lines.
* Perfume and Smell:- The smell of the product is different from that of the original. Generally, the detergents smell of soda ash because of the use of too much soda. Lifebuoy does not smell carbolic; rather it smells phenolic. Lux smells pungent. In the case of talcum powders, the smell of the powder would be that of chalk or lime. Shampoo would smell oily. Spurious tea smells of dry leaves or leather or sand.
* Colour and finish of the product: All the detergent powders manufactured by HLL are in powder form and very few or no granules are found, whereas the spurious detergents and soaps are also different in textures and the finishing is rough. The shampoos are less viscous and different in colour. By rubbing the spurious talcum powders on the palm, one will feel roughness indicating that the powder is coarse. In case of tea, different colours of brown, dark brown and brown-black particles can be found. However, it is always advisable to get the product analysed by the factory to be sure it is a spurious one. After the identification of the product, the next stage is locating the manufacturer.
INVESTIGATION FROM SELLING POINT: The first and foremost point is to request the sales colleagues to ignore the law officer when he is in the market and behave as if the law officer is a stranger. The law officer should keep his identity secret and give the impression of being a common purchaser.
The law officer, in case he suspects that the seller is in possession of counterfeit stocks, should purchase the stock for confirmation. He should not directly ask for the product. He should ask for other items, such as grocery items, along with the product suspected of being spurious. A discussion with the retailer dealing in spurious items can yield the name of the supplier 80% of the time.
Another way is to approach a retailer selling original products and mentioning that a product purchased from the other shop (name the person selling spurious product) was not good. The person will come out with more vital information.
The law officer, in case he suspects that the seller is in possession of counterfeit stocks, should purchase the stock for confirmation.
Locating the manufacturer or packer:
Rickshaw pullers are well informed persons in the town/locality about the factories located in the area as the infringers often use rickshaws or hand carts for transporting the offending goods manufactured by them. Avoid using a car in small towns because a) in small towns the person can be identified easily by moving a car, and b) entering into lanes and by-lanes is difficult. One should keep a slip with a false address in the pocket in order to create an impression upon the local residents that one is new to that place and searching for some address. When in the factory seeking information, take an immediate glimpse of the activities in the factory.
The cardinal principle is to conduct a raid only with time tested informers.
Certain persons may take revenge by giving out wrong information, pretending to be informers. The person who suffers a loss on account of a raid arranges a meeting to take the company person to a lonely place in the guise of showing a spot, with the intention of exposing the company person to danger. Hence the cardinal principle is to conduct a raid only with time tested informers. If an informer is new, one should get the address of the spot and make preliminary investigations without telling the informer. The motto to follow is “believe your eyes, not your ears.” Even if a known informer is providing the information, it is wisest to confirm the information before raiding the place.
Information Required For Conducting Raid
Getting the following information is vital before going for a raid:
* Residential address of the infringer: The infringers often store wrappers and blocks/dyes at their residence and bring them to the factory whenever required.
* Time of operation (especially time of packing): The raid will be most effective if finished products, semi-finished products, unfinished products, and wrappers can be shown to the court on the seizure list.
* Number of people working in the factory: This is required for arranging sufficient police presence, which is vital for the protection of the raiding party.
* Number of ladies working in the factory: A presence of women officers in the raiding party is essential if ladies are employed in the factory.
* The locality and the type of people residing nearby: Infringers will pay huge sums to local goons and clubs in order to run his business without any disturbance. If any such information is available, it should be conveyed to the police before going to the raid in order to tackle the situation.
* Political status of the infringer: If the infringer is politically connected, pressure may come from politicians for his release. Prior information to the Administration based on the situation will help a lot.
An infringer Jamashedpur was a nephew of minister. Just before the raid this was disclosed to the S.P., who was requested not to let him escape even if he was pressurized by higher authorities to release him. As expected, the S.P received a call from Patna, asking him to release the accused. The S.P. was firm on his commitment and replied back that the entire procedure of arrest was complete and a press statement was also issued and hence he was not in a position to release the accused. The accused was released on bail from the High Court at Patna after 6 months.
Relation of the infringer with local administration: Generally the local administration is fully aware of the illegal activities of the infringer, as he takes care of their needs. In exchange for such facilities, the administration gives them protection, up to and including having the local police sabotage the raid.
At Gaya in a Taaza, the accused was a highly influential person. The local P.S. was in cahoots with the accused. On intimating this nexus between the accused and the P.S., the S.P. organised a raid through a officer from a different P.S. The officer of the local P.S. was non-cooperative and did not register the case till 3 P.M. The success of this raid was conveyed to the S.P via telephone, including a request that he visit the P.S. to see the seized goods. The S.P. was thrilled to see the seizure and gave the officer of the local P.S. a good roasting for not registering the case.
The author is a Legal Manager of Hindustan Lever Ltd.