Fake Eversharp ball pens Chinese dealer freed

HARARE - A Chinese businessperson who was accused of dealing in thousands of Eversharp counterfeit ball pens was last Friday found not guilty and acquitted.

Faxin Guo (61), owner of Lamhill Trading (Pvt) Ltd Company, was taken to court by Eversharp (Pvt) Ltd Zimbabwe, for importing fake Eversharp ball pens branded with the company's trademark name and supplying the product to the market.

In passing sentence, Harare magistrate Rekina Dzikiti said it would be harsh to charge Guo for the fake merchandise as Guo had imported the product for resale, without knowledge that it was counterfeit.

"The accused had no way of knowing that the pens were not original. It took Kiribon Moyo a laboratory test to identify a fake pen from a genuine pen. It's not clear from the naked eye," Ms Dzikiti said.

The complainant in the matter was Eversharp Zimbabwe represented by its Safety, Environment and Quality superintendant Kiribon Moyo.