Azerbaijan’s State Service for Antimonopoly Supervision and Consumer Market Control has taken action against six companies and individual entrepreneurs after uncovering widespread violations of competition and consumer protection laws.
According to Oxu.Az, complaints triggered a preliminary investigation into the activities of Baku Electronics, ABC Telecom, Trust Lux, as well as individual entrepreneurs Parviz Guliyev, Vusal Gurbanov, and Dadas Veliev. Checks revealed extensive deceptive practices, leading to administrative cases and formal orders to correct violations.
False “Country of Origin” Claims
The investigation found that Baku Electronics misled consumers when advertising and selling household appliances under the YOSHIRO brand.
The company used phrases such as “Japanese tradition” and “Japanese quality” to create the false impression that the products were manufactured in Japan – when in fact they were made in China and Uzbekistan. The company also provided inaccurate claims about product performance, violating Azerbaijan’s Competition Code.
A similar scheme was uncovered at ABC Telecom, which promoted HOFFMANN heaters as German-made despite having no connection to Germany.
Trust Lux misrepresented its sanitary-technical products under the Y.A.Ş brand as Turkish-made, using imagery and labels associated with Turkey, while the goods were actually produced in China.
Trademark Abuse and Counterfeiting
Several violations involved illegal use of trademarks and geographic indications:
Parviz Guliyev unlawfully used the trademark ZAGAR BAKU in social media ads and at his business location.
Vusal Gurbanov was caught selling counterfeit air conditioners under the name AUXs, illegally using the registered AUX trademark belonging to another manufacturer.
Dadas Veliev caused public concern after fraudulently labeling dairy products with the well-known geographic indication “Ivanovka”, despite having no connection to the authentic producers.
Ivanovka is widely recognized in Azerbaijan for high-quality, eco-friendly dairy products, and the misuse of its name was intended to artificially boost the reputation of unrelated goods.
Penalties and Further Legal Action
All entities involved have been issued mandatory orders to eliminate violations and prevent recurrence.
In the most serious case, materials regarding the counterfeit AUXs air conditioners sold by Vusal Gurbanov have been referred to the General Prosecutor’s Office of Azerbaijan.
