COURT ORDERS DESTRUCTION OF FAKE SANYO TVS (PAGE 31, JAN 26, 2010)

LARGE quantities of fake 14-inch and 21-inch Sanyo television sets were destroyed at the Kpone landfill site on the orders of an Accra High Court because of their poor quality and the hazard they posed to users.
The exercise was supervised by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and court officials.
The fake products, branded ‘Sanyo’ and imported from China, were seized from a shop in Accra when reports reached the original agents of the presence of ‘look-alike’ Sanyo products on the market.
The Commercial Court, presided over by Ms Justice Barbara Ackah-Yensu, at its sitting on November 20, 2009, ordered that all the retrieved fake television sets should be destroyed at an official destruction site because they amounted to illegal branding and infringement on the Copyright Law.
Briefing the press at the Kpone landfill site, Mr John Bisiw, the local manager of Sanyo Gulf, a division of Sanyo International, said a research team from the organisation discovered some branded Sanyo goods in the Accra Central Business District which were suspected to be fake.
He said samples of the television sets were purchased and examined by a team of factory experts from Japan, Indonesia and Dubai.
Mr Bisiw said they observed that the products were fake and could produce harmful emissions, contrary to the accepted levels, and, therefore, obtained a court judgement for the destruction of the seized goods.
He told the media that the shop owner escaped arrest and, therefore, could not help trace the importer of the fake TV sets.
Mr Bisiw said the fake television sets had no model and serial numbers, unlike the original products which had their logos manufactured with the cabinet.