Adaptec Suit Alleges Counterfeiting of Its Products
Computer products maker Adaptec Inc. said Monday that it has filed a lawsuit accusing nine Southern California companies, including six in Orange County, of making or selling bogus copies of the Milpitas, Calif.-based company’s computer products.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in San Jose late last month, led to raids 10 days ago at some of the companies. Under a court order and with the supervision of the U.S. Marshal’s Office, Adaptec seized property and records.
The suit accuses the companies, as well as two Los Angeles County residents, of violating trademark, copyright and patent laws, said Shelley Wessels, a Menlo Park lawyer for Adaptec.
A customer complaint about one of the company’s computer networking products last spring sparked the lawsuit and the raids, Wessels said.
“His product wasn’t working correctly,” she said. When Adaptec examined the product, the firm discovered it was a fake.
Adaptec spokesman Bruce Frymire said that a corporate investigation found that there was “counterfeiting” of Adaptec’s product, documentation and packaging--”the whole kit and kaboodle.”
But attorneys and executives for the companies accused of counterfeiting, including Area Electronics Systems Inc. in Placentia, deny the allegations.
“Area Electronics did not participate in making any counterfeit goods and Area Electronics did not knowingly purchase counterfeit goods,” said Arnold Sklar, an attorney representing the Placentia company, which assembles computer systems.
Others named as defendants in the suit include Hornet Technology USA Corp., Nitro Link Corp. and Soyo Technical Marketing Inc., all in Brea; and Priority Micro Inc. and Proactive Technology Marketing Inc., both in Irvine.
Priority Micro uses Adaptec products in its computer systems, its president, Kamran Heidarian, acknowledged, but he said “we had nothing to do with” any counterfeiting. U.S. Marshal agents “came here, and they did not find anything,” he said. “We bought products from legitimate distributors.”
Adaptec attorneys said a preliminary injunction has been issued against seven of the defendants halting them from making or selling counterfeit goods. Adaptec will seek to make that injunction permanent, they said.
Adaptec will also seek damages, though those have not been specified, Wessels said. The company said in a news release that “no material impact” on its financial results is expected as a result of the alleged counterfeiting.
