Fighting the fakes

Counterfeiting of safety critical brake components is thankfully a rare occasion in Europe, but the discovery recently of an imported Chinese product line raises the stakes in the battle against fake brake parts. These pads have been tested by TMD Friction and have proven to have dangerously low performance but worryingly match closely the aesthetics of a major European vehicle manufacturer's OES brake pad, complete with logos and part numbers.

At Automechanika 2010 TMD Friction launched two new measures in the ongoing battle against counterfeit manufacturers. Firstly with the launch of an internet based platform highlighting examples of fake products and providing clear advice for identifying counterfeits, secondly unveiling a new security seal incorporating cutting edge and impossible to copy technology.

TMD Friction Group Marketing Director, David Baines, informs "Having counterfeits made of your products and brands is a strange kind of compliment, the cost to set up manufacturing and engineering to make a fake product only makes sense when the product has both premium quality and value, and a market leading brand identity.

Of course historically the premium products and brands of TMD Friction have been clear targets of the copy-cat producers, but today I'm pleased to say that dealing with counterfeit, at least in Europe, has become an infrequent activity for us. I'm sure this is as a direct result of the effective measures and controls placed on all TMD Friction manufacturing and product lines.

However the recent appearance of Chinese manufactured OES fake products in Europe is of real concern. We need to make sure as an industry that we work together in providing systems and mechanisms that allow for the immediate identification of counterfeit products. We must support this with a proactive stance in protecting our intellectual property and trademarks and pursue any infringement to the full extent of the law and stop this dangerous practice at source.

As a further proactive step in preventing counterfeit we will at Automechanika 2010 introduce two new innovations. Firstly our new holographic security seal, with which we have made any effective counterfeiting of our packaged product virtually impossible by utilizing state of the art technology. Secondly we will support this with the launch of our informative new web platform and customer forum, http://www.fightingthefakes.com/, providing clear advice to customers and consumers. These actions take TMD Friction another stride forward in fighting the fakes, worldwide."