Belkin Teams with DED to Seize Thousands of Belkin Counterfeits in the Middle East; Vows to Protect Retail Partners and Consumers from Illegal Products

Dubai, United Arab Emirates– April 20, 2016– Belkin International, Inc., a leading consumer electronics accessory manufacturer, today announced its most aggressive action to date in the fight against the sale of counterfeit goods in the Middle East with a series of raids across Dubai. The Department of Economic Development (DED) of Dubai, acting on information gathered and provided by Belkin, raided 22 individual stores located in four main marketplaces and confiscated more than 1,400 counterfeit Belkin-branded products. 

“Since its inception in 1983, Belkin has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into the research, development and engineering of its products to ensure they are safe and reliable for consumers,” said Chet Pipkin, founder and CEO of Belkin. “We appreciate the efforts of the DED and will continue to work with appropriate authorities around the globe to enforce our intellectual property and stop the sale of Belkin counterfeit products. These actions are part of our ongoing commitment to fighting those who seek to damage our brand, undermine our valued customer relationships and flood the market with inferior products.”  

Counterfeit Belkin products confiscated during the raids include smartphone accessories such as cases, cables, and chargers for both in car and home. Resellers caught with counterfeit goods are subject to confiscation of merchandise and a fine of 15,000 AED.

The Dubai raids are the latest in a series of actions Belkin has taken to protect both its brand and consumer safety from counterfeiters in the past few years. In December 2014, a similar series of raids in China conducted with the China State Administration for Industry and Commerce seized more than one million counterfeit Belkin goods and resulted in jail time for six individuals. On a legal front, Belkin has filed complaints and injunctions in more than 22 countries against entities that violate its intellectual property, all in an effort to thwart the sale of unlawful and potentially dangerous products.