SKF has recently completed legal proceedings against a dealer of counterfeit bearings in Greece. The proceedings were initiated in 2009, after some 15 tonnes of counterfeit SKF bearings were seized as part of a raid at a dealer’s warehouse in the area of Piraeus. The bearings with a market value of approximately 1 million euros have now been officially declared counterfeit by the Greek court system and physically destroyed.

Customers who accidentally purchase counterfeit products are being cheated financially and risk damage to their machinery as well as expensive downtime.

Tina Åström
director of SKF Group Brand Protection

SKF recently also participated in three simultaneous raids against retailers of counterfeit bearings in China. The raids, which were led by Chinese police, resulted in the seizure of counterfeit bearings that might otherwise have been sold to industrial customers and end users.

“Customers who accidentally purchase counterfeit products are being cheated financially and risk damage to their machinery as well as expensive downtime,” says Tina Åström, director of SKF Group Brand Protection.

Every year, SKF’s brand protection team participates in more than 100 raids against retailers, distributors and manufacturers of counterfeit products.