Exclusive: Theegarten-Pactec, Acma and LoeschPack issue warning over cloned machinery

As this year’s major interpack event prepares to open its doors, three key equipment companies including Theegarten-Pactec, Acma and LoeschPack have issued a stark warning after discovering counterfeit machinery ranges, reports Neill Barston.

Significantly, the businesses have this week issued a joint statement asserting that they are now fully investigating the extend of the issue and are expecting to potentially press legal charges, after the matter came to light that imitation packaging and processing lines have been discovered by the firms.

Confectionery Production is ascertaining the extent of the issue – which has not yet been publicly revealed, though the combined businesses have stated that they have warned their respective customers that there has been a concerted effort to copy specific machinery.

Notably, the combined statement also added that the businesses have expressed particular concern that active efforts have been made by those behind the fake machinery to replicated advanced functions linked to respective machinery lines.

The discovery of the issue comes on the eve of this year’s interpack event, which opens its doors in Düsseldorf today, running until 13 May, with the businesses warning customers to be alert to any instances of equipment of uncertain origin.

As our title has previously explored, the issue of cloning machinery, or deliberately copying of equipment lines is not a new phenomenon – and has been a widely noted issue, particularly within Asia, in the motoring industry in particular.

The joint statement from the confectionery manufacturers read: “As companies that hold research and innovation in the highest regard, we are constantly monitoring market developments and trends, that we closely observe also in light of the needs expressed by our clients.

“Being advocates of fair competition we strongly condemn companies that wrongly exploit the resources put into the engineering of our carefully crafted models, that contributed to the success and history of our companies after many years in the field.

“In this context, we recently came across machines, and in some cases entire lines that appear to be blatant imitations of original models engineered, developed and marketed by Acma, Theegarten and LoeschPack. The similarities, if not identity of such machines and lines compared to their original counterparts, are to all means, not coincidental, but the result of intentional endeavours.”

Significantly, the companies added that this also extended to key functions of advanced elements of machinery that demonstrated further that there had been deliberate attempts to clone equipment.

In light of this, the companies said they intended to assert their intellectual property rights to their respective machinery, and were already in the process of preparing legal proceedings in relation to the matter.

This year’s interpack opens its door from 10am in Dusseldorf, Germany.