Dell India clears its stand on enforcement action

A recent alert notice by Dell India at airports has created a big chaos among the parallel importers, as a result of which, shipments imported by these importers other than Dell India's authorized resellers are being held at the Delhi, Mumbai airport.

Speaking exclusively on this issue to The DQWeek, Mahesh Bhalla, executive director and GM, consumer and SMB, Dell India said, "The alert notice was issued based on our application for registration with the customs to initiate this enforcement action, as a result of which, shipments imported by those other than Dell India's authorized resellers are being held at the Delhi airport. Dell is in regular touch with the relevant authorities to verify the valid imports that then get cleared by the customs."

This activity is only being carried out in India given the specific circumstances here and is based on the provisions of the Trademarks Act 1999 based on which Dell has secured the registration with the Customs under the Intellectual Property Rights (imported goods) Enforcement Rules 2007, to execute exclusive rights.

Clearing his stand on this move, Bhalla reiterated that the trade mark ‘Dell' has been registered in the name of Dell Inc, USA under the Trade Marks Act, 1999, which entitles Dell Inc to certain exclusive rights under law with respect to computers and laptops. "We, Dell India, are enforcing these exclusive rights on behalf of Dell Inc and accordingly, have obtained registration with the Customs under the Intellectual Property Rights (Imported Goods) Enforcement Rules, 2007 to enforce these exclusive rights. We wish to highlight that the said registration is only directed against importers who do not have the permission/authorization to use the ‘Dell' trade mark, as registered in India, in the course of trade in India and is not directed against authorized importers/distributors/re-sellers of such products," Bhalla said.

When asked why there is a huge price gap in India as compared to other countries, Bhalla said, "As far is pricing of products is concerned, specific products may have different pricing in different jurisdictions, based on local tax structures . Therefore the pricing comparison of a single product between different countries can't be based on a direct conversion from USD."

He continued, "There are also variations in product configurations between countries with regard to the same product in terms of hard disk capacity and processor specification which affect the cost of the product as well as differences in levels of services offered or associated with the products (on-site service and complete cover offered as default with most products sold in India) and accessories offered with the products itself (back-pack, HDMI cable, etc). These may make the Indian pricing different from those of the other countries. Different factors including macro-economic ones may also impact pricing at times including increases due to component prices, Forex currency movements and the like. However there is absolutely no connect between the prices and our efforts to stop infringement from illegal parallel imports."

The present enforcement action is directed at ensuring that distribution of Dell products within India takes place through authorized channels and that statutorily granted exclusive rights are respected. Furthermore, this enforcement action is actually beneficial to end-customers given that warranty policies vary from country-to-country and making available products through authorized channels enable us to ensure that the end-customer may be provided with an appropriate warranty support as was represented to such end-customers at the time of purchase.

"We remain committed to offering the best value to our customers everywhere, through latest global technology that nonetheless takes local needs and interests into account," concluded Bhalla.