Counterfeit circuit breakers may explode, causing fire, injury and could result in loss of life.

Definition of Counterfeiting
Such reproduction/imitation is illegal when an Intellectual Property Right (IPR) is infringed, inter alia:

• a registered trademark or trade name
• and/or an unregistered proprietary right for the "trade dress" or "get-up" or designation of a product
• and/or a patent, utility model and/or design right/design patent
• and/or a copyright

The IPRs listed above are infringed if any of the following occurs:

• Registered trademark or trade name: the copy products bear a mark or other designation which is identical or confusingly similar to that of a product with a registered trade mark or trade name.
• Unregistered "trade dress" / "get-up" / designation: these terms designate the copy products which have a form and visual appearance, or bear a designation which are recognized by the public as distinctive and hinting to a specific producer. The public may therefore be led to the erroneous belief that the copy products come from the same source as the original products.
• Patent, utility model, design right: here one or more parts of the original product are protected by valid patents and/or utility models and/or design rights (in the U.S. called design patents), and these protected parts show up in the copy product.
• Copyright: the copy product is a text (brochure, book, pamphlet, manual etc.) or picture or film or sound or computer software or technical document and drawing2, which is basically identical with the original product.