Autodata sinks technology pirates in counterfeiting settlement

Autodata has struck again in its campaign to stamp out Intellectual Property crime.

The Maidenhead-based data company reached an out-of-court settlement with a pirate seller of its products.

Autodata was alerted to the activities of an unauthorised supplier by one of its customers in the London area.

It responded by instigating a covert enquiry by its IP team, which carried out test purchases of the software being sold illegally.

A spokesperson for Autodata said: “This result followed several reports we received from customers concerned about approaches from counterfeit software sellers.

“We continue to work closely with Trading Standards to highlight any issues and concerns that garages have with this activity.

“Anybody considering making counterfeit copies of our software, and particularly those who then attempt to sell these out-of-date examples, should be aware of the danger this poses to the public and that the heavy hand of the law is on the side of the IP rights holder.”

In this case, the vendor had moved to another part of the country in an attempt to escape prosecution, but evidence was gathered and his operation traced to a new residence.

When approached with the evidence against him, he was confronted with settling against damages or facing court action.