KUWAIT: Mubarak Naser Al-Sayer CEO Al-Sayer Group Holding, Representative from Toyota Motor Corporation Mitsuru Saito General Manager Parts MENARO, Khalid Al-Saif, General Manager of the General Administration of Customs, Delegate from Al-Tamimi & Co law firm and Senior Management representatives from Mohamed Naser Al-Sayer during the seminar. — Photos by Joseph Shagra.

KUWAIT: Mohamed Naser Al Sayer (MNSS) Toyota Genuine Spare Parts Division, one of the Al-Sayer Group Holding Companies held an educational seminar on Intellectual Property Rights in collaboration with the General Administration of Customs. The event was attended by Mubarak Naser Al-Sayer CEO Al-Sayer Group Holding, Representative from Toyota Motor Corporation Mitsuru Saito General Manager Parts MENARO , Officials from the Ministry and Embassy, Delegate from Al-Tamimi & Co law firm, Senior Management representatives from Mohamed Naser Al-Sayer, customers from the dealer and fleet segment along with distinguished members from the press and media.

The main objective of the seminar was to associate the strategic objective of fostering partnership among the official authorities directly concerned with matters corresponding to intellectual property rights such as private sector companies represented by MNNS, professional experts and government agencies. The diminishing importance of Intellectual Property Rights law to provide adequate protection for companies producing goods and brand-based services, and protect human health and safety was also stressed as a major concern during the seminar.

According to Mubarak Naser Al-Sayer CEO Al-Sayer Group Holding "Our gathering today is a continuation of our hard work to activate community partnership with concerned government authorities, private sector institutions and experts to clarify and activate the importance of providing adequate protection for companies, with accredited trademarks, producing goods and services for the health and safety of humans and environment against damages accompanying the handling of counterfeited products and sensual damages that can be caused by it. We are pleased to work hand in hand serving consumers and our beloved countries interest."

Highlighting the risk of using counterfeit parts, Mohammed Hilal Business Director MNSS Toyota Spare Parts Division said "The spread of counterfeit parts in the world has become a growing problem that threatens the manufacturers, sellers and consumers alike. The perpetrators of these illegal activities became more professional, they use packaging materials and posters to conceal being absolutely counterfeit, or change it slightly so that the average consumer can't distinguish it because of the difficulty of discovering these differences in any pieces."

Educating The High Risk of Using Counterfeit Parts: The wide spread of counterfeit parts is an ever worsening problem which threatens manufacturers, sellers and consumers alike. Counterfeit parts pose great risks to consumers and the overall community. Such cheap alternative products are made of materials of poor standards and specifications which cannot offer the required performance by the passage of time and which cannot withstand the tough weather conditions.

* For example, counterfeit oil strain is made of cheap and low quality materials for lower costs which allow damaging materials to get into engine delivering poorer performance and shorter engine life.

* Air filter allowing dust into the combustion chamber causing damage to the engine and heavy repair costs.

* Counterfeit brake discs and brake pads which increase the distance required to stop the car on breaking hence threatening consumer life and safety due to poor brake performance apart from damage to the braking system , the vehicle and higher maintenance costs .

* Counterfeit electrical parts delivering poor engine performance and risk to driver. Vehicles catching fire on the road is an example of the greatest risks and results of using counterfeit electrical parts , trading , promotion or using of which is a crime against consumers .

Unique and Advanced Toyota Patented Technology:

Toyota believes that improving levels and standards of safety and performance requires proper employment of technology, innovation and continued pursuit of perfection to provide new solutions through its own efforts or in cooperation with leading world organizations, basically to reduce casualties in comparison with world accident figures.

Therefore Toyota recruits massive numbers of qualified technicians and engineers with best training at reputed universities, and technology institutes who have demonstrated best hands on performance and achievements in development and innovation using most advanced equipment and technology to further improve innovation and inventions which positively impact our life.

Stressing the trusted quality of Toyota Genuine spare parts, Saied Al-Shurafa Deputy General Manager Parts and Accessory sales said "Genuine parts are carefully made, checked and tested as they are made of original materials meeting stringent standards properly designed to suit each model. This means that each part meets the high quality standards of genuine parts, assembled and installed by specialist and qualified technicians to ensure proper performance and good condition of vehicle and safety of driver, passenger and people on the road."

Decade Long Anti-Counterfeit Campaign by Al -Sayer: Al-Sayer Group has been promoting customer and overall public awareness about counterfeit parts and their damaging effects and life threatening risks over the past 10 years. These are aimed at educating customer and enhancing his awareness of the existence and risks of using such counterfeits, and to encourage customers to shun such products and go for Toyota genuine parts for safe driving and trouble free vehicle performance. Al-Sayer is using special labels to identify and distinguish genuine parts for customers.

This comes in line with Al-Sayer social responsibility promoting such customer awareness and offering valuable information about modern day technology, safety standards of products, and road safety as well.

ASG is in direct cooperation and coordination with the appropriate government control authorities and Customs authorities providing them with best control tools. For example, they created a special website addressing the subtle difference between genuine and counterfeit parts in addition to providing Kuwait Customs with "Hologram" glasses which detect such difference.

"Let us work hand in hand to stand against this problem by setting action programs and plans and execution mechanism to increase cooperation between both sectors and to open communication channels and exchange advice in related fields between the private and public sector" said Abdullah Alshuwaie Senior Manager Customer Relations and Legal Representative, encouraging stronger anti-counterfeit efforts.

"We will continue to strengthen our marketing efforts towards educating the society about the danger of compromising on quality through purchasing counterfeit parts. No Counterfeit is our aim and we will fully support you to protect the consumer and Kuwaiti market from this problem" said Mohammad Nasimi Senior Manager After Sales Marketing.

The event was concluded with interactive question & answer session followed by "touch and feel" to facilitate comparison between counterfeit and genuine parts for the guests.