The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Trade is currently reviewing a complaint by Bamb Swiss Saudi Arabia against Saudi workshops that it claims are using the name and trademark of the Swiss company to market and sell its gold articles.
The sources of the Swiss company stated that the workshops resorted to those methods in order to gain an international dimension for their products thereby selling at higher prices.
Mr. Bassam Al-Tayar, General Manager of Sawaed Biladi for Gold and Jewelry, which is one of the distributors of the Swiss Company in Saudi Arabia, has stated that the company noticed lately the circulation of counterfeit gold ingots sold in stores under the trademark and name of the Swiss company. The Swiss company complained to the Ministry of Trade against counterfeiters.
Mr. Al-Tayar added that the counterfeit articles had the words “Swiss Gold” on them in order to mislead the consumers. The workshops are alleged to market their products by benefiting from the fame of the Swiss company at the expense of the consumers who do not distinguish between the genuine and the counterfeit.
The drop in sales was estimated to be 50 percent due to the sale of the counterfiet ingots at much lower prices, which was made possible by inferior quality and cheaper manufacturing costs for the counterfeiters.
The foremost differences between the genuine and the counterfeit products are that the latter products tend to be yellow, with sharper edges and uneven surfaces. In addition a circle has been added to the genuine trademark on some of the ingots.
Al-Eqtisadiah, March 7, 1999, Saudi Arabia