Isle Of Man control maker STRIX continued its battle against counterfeit kettle controls when, in conjunction with German customs officers, it "raided" a number of stands at HomeTech in Berlin.

Seven Chinese and Hong Kong based exhibitors were found to be displaying kettles that infringed two patents and two design registrations.

In total there were 40 kettles of 30 different types that were found to be infringing intellectual property of STRIX.

On one stand alone there were 20 kettles incorporating copycat controls.

The companies concerned were: Cans International, Ningbo China; Cixi Guangdong Town Appliances, Ningbo China; Ningbo Diya, Ningbo, China; Ningbo Shun Hui, Ningbo China; Ningbo Xinyang Electric Co Ltd, Ningbo, China; Noble Electronics, Hong Kong; Yuyao Foreign Trade Co, Ningbo, China.

Most of the the companies co-operated with the authorities and removed the offending kettles from their stands, but the German police had to intervene to remove the products of Ningbo Xinyang.

The Hong Kong Trade Development Council has already informed Ningbo Xinyang that it will not be allowed to exhibit at the Hong Kong Electronics Fair in October.