Hypertherm, a US-based manufacturer of advanced plasma metal-cutting systems, is pleased to announce the success of its first criminal case against counterfeiting in China. A recent ruling by The People's Court of Guangling District in Yangzhou saw a Shanghai trading company convicted for knowingly reselling counterfeit Hypertherm consumables to other local companies. The distributor was fined a hefty sum, and its business owner was levied a fine as well as jailed.

Aaron Zou, Director, Hypertherm China, commented, "Hypertherm has kept a close eye on counterfeiting activities for some time now because we are concerned about our customers and their businesses. Imitation products do not include the advanced technological capabilities of genuine Hypertherm consumables, so they do not perform as well and have short life spans. Customers who are unaware of the presence of such sub-standard parts in the market end up paying the same price for an inferior product. This is why we keep a vigilant watch on imitation consumables, and have consistently put weight behind efforts to fight such piracy. In this instance, we received a tip-off from a local shipyard in mid-2012 that led us closer to the illicit business transactions. We moved swiftly to get to the root of the problem and contained the situation within a few short months."

In the recent wake of this legal case, Hypertherm has already witnessed some Chinese manufacturers ceasing production of unauthentic consumables.

Brett Hansen, Hypertherm's Corporate Intellectual Property Counsel, said, "In carrying out their illegal activities, pirates undermine the tremendous time and effort that companies like Hypertherm devote to developing cutting edge technologies and solutions. On top of that, customers who unintentionally adopt counterfeits are adversely affected. Instead of being able to enjoy the numerous benefits of our patented innovations, these end-users end up suffering from poor performance of imitation consumables, and even in fact risk damaging their original Hypertherm equipment."

Based on research conducted in China, Hypertherm has found that counterfeit consumables:

• Have significantly shorter life expectancy than the genuine products
• Damage cutting torches
• Cause severe damage to cooling systems

In addition, the use of counterfeit parts greatly decreases cut quality, which means additional resources are often needed for secondary operations to complete each cutting job. Hypertherm encourages end-users to cooperate with the company, and its authorized channel partners, in combating the production of counterfeit products.

"As a company, we protect our patents not just because of our reputation," shared Zou. "Hypertherm guards its technologies in order to reduce the potential harm that counterfeit products bring to unknowing users. Our partners and customers rely on us to deliver the best technology at the lowest operating cost, so we pledge to continue working with the local authorities in China to aggressively end any and all counterfeiting efforts there. At the same time, we urge end-users to alert us of any imitation products that they may have purchased by accident."

Hypertherm designs and manufactures advanced cutting products for use in a variety of industries such as shipbuilding, manufacturing, and automotive repair. Its product line includes handheld and mechanized plasma systems and consumables, as well as fiber laser and now waterjet products, in addition to CNC motion and height controls and CAM software. Hypertherm systems are trusted for performance and reliability that result in increased productivity and profitability for hundreds of thousands of businesses. The New Hampshire based company's reputation for cutting innovation dates back more than 40 years, to 1968, with Hypertherm's invention of water injection plasma cutting. The associate owned company, consistently named one of the best places to work in America, has more than 1,300 associates along with operations and partner representation worldwide.