More than 100,000 electric kettles Technika and Eltron arriving from China have been held by customs in Germany.

The brands and types involved indicated that they were most likely destined for the Russian market, although the importer is an Austrian company and the consignor registered in the Seychelles.

The kettles have been assessed for patent infringement and the vast majority have been found to infringe STRIX patents.

In accordance with the European Council regulations, the kettles have been officially seized, and the legal processes to effect the destruction of the infringing kettles are underway.

More than 10 different types of controls were fitted to more than 40 different types of kettle. A small number were fitted with genuine STRIX controls which were quickly released for onward shipment.

The controls ranged from direct copies of the STRIX systems through to other designs, which infringe STRIX patents. Many kettles fitted with these types of controls have been found in the past also unable to conform to the required safety standards.

This incident follows a similar case in February 2004 when more than 250,000 electric kettles were seized, and this impressive action by customs has served not only to protect intellectual property rights but in many cases has prevented the sale of unsafe kettles.

The Russian market for electric kettles is increasingly demanding better quality items and nowadays the majority of kettles are sold through official retail outlets. However sales still continue in the unofficial outdoor markets where controls of the sale of unsafe and patent infringing products are most difficult without the support of the state police.

This action clearly indicates the risk taken by the manufacturers and traders of such kettles. The retail value of these items is of the order of 1 million US dollars.