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Making solar power plants safer through trademark protection

How Stäubli managed to eliminate 56,720+ fake listings from online marketplaces while enhancing quality and safety standards in the PV industry

Staubli

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$20.1M+

Total value of infringements removed

56.7K+

Fake listings removed

92%

Enforcement success rate

The Challenge

Following the success of Stäubli’s branded PV connector, the “Original MC4”, it quickly became a reference in the PV sector and became the industry benchmark. This newfound fame led to the widespread adoption of MC4 as a product brand for many other PV connector manufacturers.

This resulted in an increase in low-quality counterfeits causing confusion among end-users and resellers and led to dangerous PV installations.

The Solution

Red Points’ user-friendly interface and easy-to-use platform helped Stäubli boost its trademark protection efforts. Additionally, Red Points’ relationship with the top online marketplaces helped Stäubli successfully identify and remove 56,722 fake product listings. By detecting and removing IP infringements, Red Points is supporting Stäubli in taking a stand for their brand and defending the quality promise associated with the MC4 trademark.

The Result

Since working with Red Points, Stäubli was able to remove $20.1 million worth of fake listings while raising awareness about the danger of counterfeit connectors in the PV industry. For Stäubli, the safety of its customers’ PV systems and the quality promise of its brand are top priorities.

Stäubli


The family-owned company was founded in 1892 in Switzerland and now counts over 5,500 employees worldwide. The Stäubli Group covers three activities in the area of innovative mechatronic solutions: Textile, Robotics, and Connectors, and currently operates in 29 countries, with agents in 50 countries on four continents.

Stäubli Electrical Connectors is part of the Stäubli Group and a specialist for solutions in advanced electrical contact technology.

–

staubli.com
Energy Industry
Pfäffikon, Switzerland

“With Red Points’ support, we make the solar industry a safer place.”

$20M

In infringements removed

Dominic Buergi,
Product Manager Alternative Energies at Stäubli

The Stäubli story

The family-owned company was founded in 1892 in Switzerland and now counts over 5,500 employees worldwide. The Stäubli Group covers three activities in the area of innovative mechatronic solutions: Textile, Robotics, and Connectors, and currently operates in 29 countries, with agents in 50 countries on four continents. Stäubli Electrical Connectors is part of the Stäubli Group and a specialist for solutions in advanced electrical contact technology.

Safety at risk

In a photovoltaic (PV) power plant cabling and connectors are key elements, as they have to ensure stable transmission of the generated power from the modules. To guarantee a fast, safe, and flexible connection, the first PV connector system was invented by Stäubli in 1996 for the solar industry.
Following several complaints from PV plant owners about faulty – because faked and lower quality – connectors, Stäubli first started tackling the issue individually case by case. After spending hours in manual online research and legal checks to solve the counterfeit problem on their own, Stäubli opted for a more efficient and scalable technology-based solution to speed up the process.

Regained customer trust

Thanks to Red Points’ brand protection solution, Stäubli noticed an increase in customer trust while also setting new standards in safety regulations. For Stäubli, partnering with Red Points is another important step to raising awareness amongst end-users and resellers concerning the threat of online counterfeits.

Confusion among resellers and end-users

Counterfeits can sometimes be hard to spot, especially when it comes to technology, design, or material. After Red Points detected counterfeits of the MC4 connectors being sold by one of Stäubli’s distributors, the company decided to confront this reseller. This sales partner reacted with astonishment since he wasn’t aware of the fact that the PV connectors in his shop were counterfeits and that MC4 was a company-owned protected trademark. After this conversation, the distributor directly placed an order with Stäubli to refurbish his shop with the original MC4 to provide quality and safe PV connections to his customers.

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