How to Identify a Counterfeit Software Company or Website:

Several counterfeit software sites exist, with software stolen from IDAutomation and re-engineered by decompiling, changing parameters, and then recompiling. Many of these counterfeit companies look legitimate, and many claim to be based in the USA or Canada. This practice is performed primarily within China, Russia, India, Nigeria, Vietnam, and Iran. If you suspect any IDAutomation products are being used in violation of license agreements or copyright laws, please report it for further investigation. IDAutomation has, and will, take legal action against all counterfeiters. You will be rewarded if damages are collected, and you can remain anonymous. 

4 Easy Ways to Identify Counterfeit Software Organizations

  1. Check Trademarks: If a company has not registered its trademark in its country, they are most likely a counterfeit organization. Our trademark can be found in the USA Trademark Search; search for "idautomation". If a company uses the registered mark symbol (®) in their logo without having an approved trademark, it is considered a legal violation and could be considered false advertising, as the symbol signifies a registered trademark which they do not possess; in many jurisdictions, using the ® without proper registration can result in legal penalties or even criminal charges.
  2. Copyrights: Verify that the company has filed copyright protection for the products they create. Our copyrights can be found in the USA Copyright Search; search for "idautomation". Be suspicious if a company does not protect its intellectual property.
  3. Trust Seals: Make sure the company is a member of an organization that represents consumers, such as the Better Business Bureau and make sure this can be verified. IDAutomation.com is a member of the Better Business Bureau, which can be verified by clicking on the BBB Online logo at the footer of most web pages on the site. When you verify this by clicking on the logo, make sure the information that follows is really from the consumer organization by looking at the URL address.
  4. Entity Registrations: Check government and legal entity records for active business registrations in the country where the business is located. In the USA, you'll typically need to visit the Secretary of State's website for the state where the company is incorporated. A multi-country search is also available from the OpenCorporates Site.

Chinese Software Counterfeit Website Example from 2014 

The following is a portion of an email received from a Chinese organization after our attorney sent a letter about copyright infringement. The copyright infringement involved copying software and webpage text and creating derivative works from both. In this email, he mentions his "technical partners" who create products for him, and they also have several websites. Our research in 2014 found that he and his partners control over 70 fraudulent software websites, most of which would display logos of top companies claiming they are customers and listing fake addresses, many in the USA, when the sites are actually owned and operated in China. Many of these sites were, and still are, selling barcode generation software. Unfortunately, for a small company like IDAutomation, there is no reasonable method to stop the counterfeiters.

This is a portion of an email received from a Chinese organization after our attorney sent a letter about copyright infringement.

Known Counterfeit Websites

IDAutomation has found several companies or products that violate copyrights and other intellectual property. If you or your company uses any of the products listed below, IDAutomation urges you to properly license these products through IDAutomation. IDAutomation provides a discount in most cases for this type of licensing. Known counterfeiters of IDAutomation products include:

  • 32tech . com, barcode fonts
  • BarcodeONE. com, barcode fonts
  • Brainstorm, specifically brainstorm.ttf
  • BusinessRefinery . com, Java-related barcode generation programs
  • Grandzebu . net and the OpenBarcode project, specifically the code128 fonts
  • Many other companies and products would also be on this list, however, prior settlements and agreements prevent IDAutomation from making this public.