DyStar cracks down on IP-infringing dyes

Chemicals group DyStar has succeeded in its bid to get more than three tonnes of textile dyes that infringed its intellectual property destroyed in Turkey.

The infringing dyes were seized at the Port of Mersin – Turkey’s second largest after Ambarli near Istanbul – after a tip-off by the brand owner that resulted in a preliminary injunction order, according to a report on InternationalLawOffice.com.  The defendant in the case agreed to the destruction of the shipment and the payment of compensation to DyStar.

The group – which started life as a joint venture between Germany’s Bayer and Hoechst groups and is now owned by Chinese group Zhejiang Longshen and India’s Kiri Industries – has been trying to crack down on counterfeits of its dye products for several years.

It started an anti-counterfeiting programme in 2013 and Turkey has been a particularly successful element of that drive, with more than 100 tonnes of infringing products taken off the market since then. The latest case involves reactive red dyes primarily used for tinting and colouring textiles.

The programme involves recording IP with customs, carrying put training in counterfeit identification, rapid analysis of seized samples and launching legal action in all cases where an out-of-court settlement cannot be reached.

“We are a global leader in developing and providing new products, which are both cost-efficient and environmental-friendly. Therefore, some companies try to copy our products,” commented Ulrich Weingarten, DyStar’s director of global IP.

“This turns out to be a costly approach for them with the products being destroyed and compensation paid,” he added.