Hand tools firm denies trade infringement charges

MANILA, Philippines – A major distributor of hand tools in the country denied yesterday before the Department of Justice (DOJ) charges of trademark infringement for allegedly selling fake products.

In a 23-page counter-affidavit, Herco Trading Inc. and its president, Wilfred Co, said the allegation of violating Republic Act 8293 (intellectual property law) for supposed distribution and sale of counterfeit versions of hand hacksaw blades and claw hammers that are being manufactured by its supplier, the Swedish company Kapman Aktiebolag (Kapman AB), is a frame-up.

Co said complainant Jairus Abiera, who claims to be an intellectual property expert and a “duly authorized attorney-in-fact” of Kapman AB, lied to the court and planted evidence in securing search warrants.

“Respondent (Co) and Herco Trading were the object of a frame-up which included falsifying document, perjured testimony, and judicial short-cuts in the procurement and implementation of search warrants (by Abiera) that are illegal and void from the very beginning,” Co said, in his sworn statement, adding that Abiera used faked documents and planted evidence to back up his claims of trademark infringement purportedly to embarrass and humiliate him in public.

He said the DOJ should dismiss the charges for lack of evidence.

Co said he has witnesses Renato Antonia, Peter Taw and Ben Roger Lucero attesting to Abiera’s orders to forge documents and plant evidence.

“There is no question or doubt that Abiera manipulated and misled the police enforcer who filed the application for search warrants, the judge who issued the search warrants, and the press who bought his story hook, line, and sinker. If somebody has to answer criminally, it is Jairus Abiera himself, and nobody else,” Co said.