Tamron grey importers get €2m fine

TAMRON Europe GmbH, Cologne, Germany attains drastic 2 Mio € penalty verdict against Ruitenberg / Crown in the Netherlands for dealing with illegal imports (press release)

On June 30th 2010 the district court in Utrecht/Netherlands (file reference number 262876/HA ZA 09-458) rendered a verdict against Mr. H.P. Ruitenberg and 4 respective entities of the so-called Crown group in favour of Tamron Europe, Cologne, Germany.

After an extremely harsh and meticulous prosecution Tamron Europe`s lawyers succeeded in providing evidence that Mr Ruitenberg and several of his respective Crown companies violated the trademark rights of Tamron by dealing with illegally imported merchandise, which was not imported into the EU by or on behalf of Tamron. The court could be successfully convinced of the damaging impact to Tamron Europe`s business resulting from the illegal trade.

The verdict includes a penalty of €2,000,000 for non-compliance with an earlier verdict that Tamron obtained in its favour. Tamron Europe urgently suggests all retailers in Europe to purchase Tamron merchandise solely from unsuspicious and fully reliable sources, as the company will not hesitate to take similar drastic legal action against any kind of trade with illegally imported Tamron products.