Hewlett-Packard Development Company (HP), on Tuesday organised a media briefing in Accra to raise public awareness about the global counterfeiting of its products, which is denying clients the value for money.

Within the last four years the corporate entity had conducted more than 1,000 investigations, resulting in more

than 800 enforcement actions in Europe, Middle East and Africa. Nearly nine million units of counterfeit products and components have been seized.

In November 2012, 20,000 counterfeit products were seized in Ghana alone.

The multi-million dollar anti- counterfeiting programme is drawing public awareness about printing supplies on the market such as fake cartridges leading to the damage of printers, interruption of work flow and problems such as loss of money and possible invalidation of hardware warranty.

Rita Amuchienwa, HP Supplies Country Manager for English West Africa, Printing and Personal Systems (PPS), introduced the about 30 journalists to HP authentication technology that enables customers to determine if the products they have purchased are genuine.

She said the company is always a step ahead of the counterfeiters by coming out with products that out- smart the fake ones.

These products are noted for their superior quality and reliability and are sold at competitive prices.

HP Anti-counterfeit Programme also trains customs and other law enforcement authorities to be able to spot suspicious printing supplies.

Amuchienwa took the journalists through some of the processes to identify fake products from the genuine ones.

For instance HP Laser Jet Print cartridges always carry an HP security label over the tear strip of the outer packaging. Security labels are found on most HP inkjet products in Central and Eastern Europe as well as Middle East and Africa.

HP has introduced new security labels for HP inkjet print cartridges, which are now available on Original HP Laser Jet Print cartridge packaging.

The new labels feature sophisticated holographic properties as well as Quick Response (QR) code which customers can easily validate using a web-enabled Smartphone or online via a new HP web page: www.hp.com/go/ok

Tolulope Lawani, PPS Marketing Manager for West Africa said through awareness creation, product packaging and enforcement HP is tackling the counterfeiting menace.

He said customers can download and install free software from www. hp.com/go/TonerCheck to detect anything unusual.

It also warns customers with messages and advises them on what to do next.

George Anti-Ohene Ghana Country Managing Director, said HP invests four billion dollars annually to carry out research and development to combat counterfeiting of its products.

HP is the world’s largest technology company with a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure.