Court orders destruction of DuPont fakes

A court in the Netherlands has ordered Dapro Safety, a company that makes protective garments, to stop infringing trademarks owned by DuPont in several jurisdictions.

DuPont sells fire-resistant materials under its Nomex brand, mainly to workers in the chemical and oil and gas industries, as well as those working for the emergency services.

It took action against Dapro at the District Court of The Hague, accusing the company of infringing both the ‘DuPont’ and ‘Nomex’ trademarks.

DuPont said Dapro and some of its trading partners were selling counterfeit garments to end users, and were therefore putting them at risk.

According to a DuPont statement on April 10, the Dutch court ordered Dapro to stop infringing the ‘Nomex’ mark in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, India and the United Arab Emirates.

The same order was applied against the ‘DuPont’ mark in the EU.

Dapro was also told “to have destroyed the total amount of infringing products still in its stock”, said DuPont, which was awarded legal fees and damages, neither of which have yet been calculated.

The ruling comes soon after a similar judgment in Malaysia.

Marc Doyle, president of DuPont’s protection technologies department, said DuPont is “resolute in defending our global trademarks”.

“We are pleased by the decision of the court following several years of our pursuing this misconduct, and it should serve as a warning to companies that misrepresent their products.

“The safety of those who rely on our technology to protect themselves is at stake.”

In addition to protecting workers, Nomex products are used in mass transit systems, wind energy, transformers, filtration, hoses and aircraft.

Dapro did not respond to a request for comment.