Two men have agreed to pay a “seven-figure settlement” after they were caught buying and selling counterfeit computer products, it has been revealed.
The report comes as GEN-X IT LTD, the company used to trade the fake Cisco merchandise, was placed into liquidation.
An Insolvency Service investigation was first launched into the company and its directors, Alan Gould and Kelley Stewart, in 2007, after a series of complaints of trade mark infringement was raised against the firm.
Following the enquiry, both men signed undertakings on behalf of all parties connected to GEN-X IT that they “wouldn’t deal with counterfeit products that hadn’t been manufactured by Cisco or a licensed manufacturer”.
But after entering into insolvency proceedings in January 2016, it was found that GEN-X IT had continued to buy and sell an estimated 55,000 fake computer products that infringed on the intellectual property rights of Cisco and were not authorised to be sold in the European Economic Area (EEA).
Accepting that they had infringed on the rights of Cisco, the directors agreed to pay a behind-closed-doors “seven-figure” settlement.
The directors were also banned by the Insolvency Service, preventing them from owning or managing another company for a combined 24 years.
Commenting on the case, Neil Sheridan, Head of Global Investigations for Cisco’s Brand Protection team, said: “We are grateful to the Insolvency Service for their perseverance in this case, the outcome of which should be a warning to anyone trading in counterfeit products of any sort.
“We are committed to tackling both individuals and organisations that recklessly trade in counterfeit Cisco products and create significant risk to critical network infrastructure.”
Rob Clarke, Chief Investigator for the Insolvency Service, added: “Both Alan Gould and Kelley Stewart were fully aware GEN-X IT was importing and selling computer products that infringed on Cisco’s intellectual property rights, which was a flagrant breach of an undertaking promising they would stop.”
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