Customs officials in the Czech Republic have discovered and confiscated a large quantity of counterfeit ZKL bearings.

The bearings, seized by the Melnik Customs Office in the northwest central part of the country, carry the ZKL brand, CZECH manufactured markings, and are in ZKL brand blue boxes and master packs.

Customs contacted ZKL Klasterec spol. s.r.o. (Czech Republic, a division of HTC Holding) in Klasterec nad Ohri, saying, "There are good reasons for the supposition that these are counterfeits or impostures violating your property rights relating to the registered trademark," and asking them to inspect the confiscated shipment, documenting why they should be considered counterfeit.

Following a detailed inspection, ZKL said they believe these bearings were manufactured in China.

In total, 31 pallets of bearings were seized, primarily commodity ball bearing sizes, but also automotive clutch thrust ball bearings, and even larger and more expensive double-row angular contact ball bearings.

What makes this situation all the more difficult is the company named by the Melnik Customs Office complaint, accused of bringing these bearings into the Czech Republic, is ZKL Bearings a.s., formerly part of the far-flung Czech ZKL bearing family, and operating by license under the ZKL banner.

The biggest problem stopping counterfeit ZKL bearings, especially in export markets, stems from ZKL's cloudy ownership past as part of the Czech state-run military-industrial complex. In a 2002 privatization sale, the ZKL plant in Klasterec nad Ohri and the ZKL trademarks were acquired by what is now ZKL Klasterec spol s.r.o., a division of HTC Holding.

However, because more than twenty bearing factories across the former Soviet Union had been licensed to produce ZKL brand bearings at one time or another -- some agreements continue today via the central government -- there is continuing market and buyer confusion as to what is and is not a currently-licensed ZKL brand bearing. Many factories with lapsed and rescinded licenses, said ZKL, have continued to manufacture poor quality ZKL branded bearings for sale in far-flung export markets.

In this case, a ZKL licensee apparently had counterfeit ZKL bearings and packaging manufactured in China, then smuggled into the Czech Republic to be sold as locally-manufactured ZKL brand bearings.



A look inside a confiscated container shows how the counterfeits were being transported, pallets not only unrestrained but also with mixed pallet sizes stacked haphazardly.

The label on the shipping container clearly indicates it is destined for ZKL Brno, although ZKL Klasterec nad Ohri has backpedaled from its initial stance of publicly naming ZKL Brno as the culprit, pending the official Customs notification.

A thrust ball bearing shows obvious transit damage:



A key point often overlooked in dealing with counterfeit products is that they are inherently subject to much harsher treatment than legitimate, properly declared shipments.

Not only is transit damage very common and often visible to the naked eye, but there is often brinelling, contamination and other hidden damage which can easily evade the customer's early detection.

Often, counterfeit bearings are packaged in such a way that they are not identified until long after they have worked their way down the distribution chain.

ZKL executives and engineers inspected the seized shipment, responding to the Customs request for counterfeit identification with a detailed report.

Many in the bearing industry will find it illuminating to see just how the counterfeits compare side-by-side to the real bearings. It also, however, gives us an appreciation for how difficult it is for a layman -- or customs inspectors -- to know the difference.

Some of the details outlined by ZKL are:



The counterfeits use 1-piece open retainers rather than ZKL's standard 2-piece closed retainer.

In the case of this 3302, it shows the counterfeit with a plastic cage where the original is made with a stamped steel cage.

The markings are also clearly visible, being laser etched where the originals are electrochemically etched and a different size.



Other cues are that these counterfeit bearings show evidence of heat-treatment in the wrong atmosphere, packaging in plastic bags where the originals are in microten foil, counterfeit boxes all marked improperly, and a number of machining irregularities.

ZKL said it was tipped off to a large quantity of ZKL counterfeits in the Czech market by a flood of bearings coming into its novel counterfeit identification program.

The program, announced recently, invites customers to send bearings to ZKL if they are unsure whether the bearings may be counterfeit.

ZKL's proactive stance, in a country still working through the implications of enforcing intellectual property and trademark laws, shows one way counterfeiting can be addressed while simultaneously helping Customs make better identifications in the future.







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