Dear Customer,

Anderson Power Products is aware that many of you are being approached by companies to purchase APP “type” products that were originally designed and patented by APP. Although legitimate competitive manufacturers exist, we wish to make you aware of various concerns when considering new sources for the original APP products. These issues include both legal, safety, environmental,and quality concerns.

These products generally fall into the following categories:

1)Counterfeits: Products that are marked APP but are not manufactured by APP

2)Copies: Products that are copied by manufacturers, marked with their name, but violateAPP patents.

3)Competitive: Products that are copied by manufacturers, marked with their name, and for whichAPP patents have expired.

APP would like you to be aware of the potential ramifications of purchasing or using these products:

1)Counterfeits: *APP has been involved in various legal actions globally pursuing counterfeit products that are sold as genuine APP products. In many cases they are falsely marked with Anderson logos, safety agency markings,(UL/CSA, etc) and in some cases duplicate APP packaging and labels. In addition to the obvious loss of business, there have been many concerns that have impacted APP’s reputation. These include inferior quality materials and connector assembly, use of non-RoHs materials and/or non UL94VO plastic, and in general failure to meet our rigid guidelines for physical, mechanical, and electrical performance. This has led to many quality failures at customers who thought they were receiving genuine APP product. APP strongly suggests that if you receive offers to purchase APP product from companies not listed as franchised distributors on our website that you should contact us for verification that the product is genuine. This will prevent counterfeits from reaching your customers and potential legal action.

2)Copies in violation of existing APP patents: APP is an innovator in the field of high amperage disconnects and we rigorously defend our Intellectual property (IP) while respecting global patent laws and other manufacturer’s IP. In this new global age, patents must be filed in all areas of the world to receive total IP protection. However, it is not always possible to receive patents in every country. Some countries are also more diligent enforcing the IP rights of companies. There are products on the market that that you should be made aware ofthat may present legal problems.There are two ways a patent infringement can occur. One is when a product is produced and sold within a country that has a valid patent awarded to another manufacturer. The second way is that a product is produced in a country where a patent does not exist but then is sold into a country with a filed patent.This can be either as a stand alone component or as part of a customer’s end product. In either case, a supplier knowing or unknowingly supplying products or an OEM purchasing these components can be ruled in violation of patents with penalties varying depending on the country the violation occurs. Anderson strongly suggests the use of genuine APP product to avoid potential legal complications.

3)Competitive Products: APP is aware of manufacturers of competitive products and has found a wide range of quality and performance capability. Many times these products are either interconnected with APP product or the components are mixed with genuine APP products. When quality issues or customer complaints have arisen on these type of mixed applications , the following root causes have been discovered :

  • Copies of APP type products manufactured from inferior materials that result in structural damage, poor electrical conductivity, lack of flame retardant properties, or RoHs violations.
  • Connectors falsely marked with Safety Agencymarkings indicating approvals that are non-existent.
  • Assembly issues impacting contact location and mechanical strength, and poor location of contacts leading to stubbing, increased contact resistance (causing a thermal event), or inadequate contact retention.

It is important to understand that components tested and approved by safety agencies receive the approvals based on the use of the components tested. An APP connector housing using APP contacts and assembled with the approved crimp tool achieves a safety agency approval. If the connector components are a mixture of manufacturers then the approval is non-existent unless that mixture of components is specifically tested to assure agency conformance. Simply put, a UL approved connector housing from manufacturer “A” used with a UL approved contact from manufacturer “B” does not have UL approval as an assembly unless tested by UL as a combination.Once again, Anderson strongly suggests the use of APP components for the entire interconnect solution to ensure quality, performance, and agency compliance. APP provides assurance that the products purchased will meet APP’s specifications and will have valid Safety Agency approvals. We also provide our customer’s with application support if customers have questions or technical issues. Use of any other manufacturer’s components with ours negates the safety agency approvals as well as APP warrantees leaving the liability for quality and safety issues with the assembler/supplier.

Anderson Power Products greatly appreciates our customer’s loyalty and takes very seriously our responsibility to our customers to produce high quality innovative products that assure safe performance. This letter is intended to provide some guidance in choosing connector products and to share our experience of issues we come across on a regular basis. This letter does not purport to be a complete legal explanation of all the ramifications of using alternate connectors. We recommend contacting legal assistance or the various safety agencies for complete information concerning counterfeit and safety agency rules.

Regards,

Rich Wagner

Director

Anderson Power Products

978-422-3630

* The use of counterfeits may cause loss of human life and property damage. Anderson Power Products is working closely with UL, CSA, and TUV to report and eliminate counterfeit electrical products. The Safety Agencies are working with international investigation agencies including INTERPOL, FBI, ICE, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who link in with Local Authorities and the Customs Authorities to monitor the movement of counterfeit commerce. These agencies have compiled a watch list which continues to grow as the counterfeit activity increases. We encourage you to visit the UL.Com website to learn more about the UL Anti-Counterfeit Program.