Canon Inc. has announced that 11 of its printing products have earned the EPEAT Climate+ designation, new evaluation criteria established for climate change initiatives under EPEAT, making Canon an EPEAT Climate+ Champion.

EPEAT is a premier ecolabel for electronics that was established in 2006. Products are registered at EPEAT Gold, EPEAT Silver or EPEAT Bronze tiers according to required criteria and their degree of compatibility with optional criteria in evaluation categories including climate change, chemical substances and resource efficiency. Imaging equipment such as multifunction devices (MFDs) and printers were added to the scope of evaluation in 2013, and this designation is currently being used to help many companies, schools and hospitals around the world purchase products, in addition to being adopted as a procurement requirement by the U.S. federal government.

The EPEAT Climate+ designation, which was initially established in October 2023, is attained by EPEAT-registered products that have met even more rigorous climate criteria. Required criteria, such as disclosure of the product's carbon footprint and energy efficiency, have been established as highly reliable guidelines to help users in choosing products at a time when there is increasing interest in climate change mitigation. In addition, a company with products that have attained the EPEAT Climate+ designation becomes an EPEAT Climate+ champion, which also indicates that the company is a business partner leading the way to address climate change.

The EPEAT Climate+ designation was earned by 11 Canon printing products registered with EPEAT in the United States, including office MFDs, inkjet printers and large-format inkjet printers. In 2024, Canon plans to increase the number of products that satisfy the EPEAT Climate+ designation amid the wide lineup of products in its printing business.

Going forward, Canon will continue to actively promote initiatives aimed at climate change mitigation and make efforts to realize a sustainable society.

In other news, Canon U.S.A. Inc. and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have announced a new partnership to help prevent counterfeit products from entering the United States.

Under this partnership, which is part of CBP's Donations Acceptance Program, Canon will donate 328 verification tools to CBP cargo and mail facilities to aid in authenticating a variety of Canon merchandise.

"Every day across America, the men and women of CBP use cutting edge technology to address threats to the homeland while simultaneously acquiring and deploying new capabilities like this Canon donation to meet new threats," said Diane J. Sabatino, acting executive assistant commissioner, CBP. "This partnership will greatly improve our trade enforcement operations in counterfeit and pirated goods, which threatens America's innovation economy, the competitiveness of our businesses, the livelihoods of U.S. workers and, in some cases, national security and the health and safety of consumers."

To deter the importation of illicit goods and protect U.S. consumers and businesses, CBP has developed a proactive, aggressive and dynamic enforcement approach to intellectual property rights (IPR) enforcement. CBP's enforcement efforts are strengthened by stakeholder collaboration and innovative approaches such as the CBP and Canon partnership. Canon intends to partner with CBP for the long term by resupplying and if necessary, upgrading donated testing devices as CBP's detection needs evolve.

"Canon is committed to protecting its customers in the United States, as well as globally, from the health and safety risks that counterfeits may pose to their person and property," said Seymour Liebman, executive vice president, chief administrative officer & general counsel, Canon U.S.A. Inc. "CBP is at the front line of our U.S. anti-counterfeiting strategy every day. This donation complements our long-term goal to provide CBP with the necessary tools, training and support to combat illicit trade. This newest donation with Canon will facilitate the identification and removal of counterfeit goods from the U.S. stream of commerce. Canon believes that we can send a strong deterring message to those individuals and companies who seek to unlawfully profit from Canon's outstanding reputation by infringing its intellectual property rights and covertly put U.S. citizens at risk."

The Donations Acceptance Program enables CBP to accept tools and technology to enforce intellectual property rights which have been registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office or the U.S. Copyright Office and subsequently recorded with CBP.