Balloon innovator turns tables on counterfeiters
A CHESHIRE company which sells an innovative light-up balloon is fighting back against counterfeiters.
Northwich-based Seatriever International has recovered more than £100,000 after lawyers acting on its behalf took action in the US and across Europe against more than 30 companies.
The company said the overall losses to those companies which had to destroy all infringing items, fork out for recall costs involved as well as legal bills and compensation, has topped the £1m mark.
Seatriever has been working with intellectual property experts at Manchester law firm Pannone Corporate to track down and stop the infringements. It believes without taking this action it could lose millions of pounds in revenues.
Melanie McGuirk, IP partner at Pannone Corporate, said: “Seatriever has invested in monitoring and identifying products that infringe its intellectual property rights. We have worked closely with Seatriever to develop a strategy to ensure copycat items are withdrawn from sale and the company is compensated for the infringement.
“It is a huge problem for companies across all sectors but Seatriever is determined to send a strong message to the market that the infringement will not be tolerated.”
Seatriever’s latest success was in the US where it took on a Pennsylvanian-based distributor called Kalan LP.
Andrew Vickerstaff, head of legal at Seatriever, said: “We have taken on hundreds of companies involved in the manufacture, distribution and sale of counterfeit products across several continents through co-ordinated legal action globally in multiple different jurisdictions.”
He admitted though that the business wages an “ongoing battle” with counterfeiters often trying to sell copycat goods worldwide on sites such eBay and Amazon and on Chinese’s sites like Alibaba.
“We will continue to go after counterfeiters who cash in on our hard work, reputation and innovation.”
Seatriever is behind a ILLOOMS – a latex party balloon that glows in the dark. It is protected by a number of international patents, trademarks, design rights and copyrights globally and its vast product range is sold by retailers across the UK including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, ToysRus, Argos and John Lewis.
