Some brands do everything they can to protect their brand image, but sometimes new and unforseen problems arise. Nokia now takes aim at unsafe, low-quality Counterfeit Batteries to protect it's customers and it's brand reputation.

At an audio conference hosted in Espoo, Nokia outlined its battle plan in the company's ongoing war against unsafe, low-quality counterfeit products. Tens of thousands of counterfeit products have been seized in recent raids in Belgium, the United Kingdom, and other countries in the EU, bringing the total global number of seized and destroyed products in 2003 to more than 5 million. As a result of these raids, authorities gained valuable leads on a counterfeit network, enabling them to begin immediate actions against those involved.

"I want to stress that consumer safety is our top concern," said Janne Jormalainen, Vice President, Mobile Enhancements, Nokia Mobile Phones. "We believe consumers are unknowingly being fooled into buying unsafe, low-quality batteries and we are actively taking measures to combat the illegal counterfeit operation at the root of this problem."

Counterfeit batteries have also misled consumer groups. Yesterday, Test-Aankoop, a Belgian consumer group, acknowledged their recent test results which led them to announce Nokia batteries were unsafe were "most probably unreliable" due to the inclusion of counterfeit batteries in their test sample. Test-Aankoop has agreed to a new, independent test of batteries - using only Nokia original batteries - and will provide the results of these tests as soon as possible.

For Nokia the counterfeit batteries present a big problem. Not only because of the loss of revenue, but also because of the danger they present. Other phone manufacters are prone to encounter the same problem one day. Pretection can prevent this thanks to its online monitoring service. Most sellers of counterfeit products want to remain anonymous. The Internet is the ideal place to sell your counterfeit goods without reveiling your identity. The professionals at Pretection can find all sites offering these products and are able to deliver valuable information about the person or organistaion behind these websites. This will make it possible for phone manufacturers to identify and remove these counterfeit parts before they can cause serious damage.