Dental News - Sulzer Mixpac: Be wary of counterfeit mixing tips

Fred Michmershuizen, DTA

Mon. 16 December 2013

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NEW YORK, N.Y., USA: Sulzer Mixpac AG, a first-time exhibitor at the 89th Greater New York Dental Meeting, is the manufacturer of trademarked MIXPAC mixing tips that are used by dentists in two-component dental applications, such as impressions and cements. The company is known for adhering to strict quality-control measures and rigid cleanliness standards at its factory in Switzerland.

MIXPAC tips are recognizable by their distinctive dome shape and six different “candy colors” — yellow, teal, blue, purple, pink and brown. They are designed to minimize waste while providing consistent results.

To help dentists identify its MIXPAC brand, the company is handing out “stress balls” here at the meeting that are modeled after these trademarked tips.

Speaking during an interview on the exhibit hall floor during the New York meeting, representatives from Sulzer said that such branding efforts are important because unscrupulous suppliers have been infiltrating the market with unauthorized, inferior product. One of the goals of the company is to help educate dentists about the dangers of using unauthorized, knockoff product.

Counterfeit mixing tips, which often come from China or Korea, might look alike, but they don’t have the same quality and performance, said Michael T. Murphy, an attorney with the K&L Gates law firm, who represents Sulzer Mixpac in various patent and trademark enforcement actions. To date, Sulzer has been successful in enforcing its trademark rights, securing court actions and effecting seizures of goods at the border by U.S. Customs officials.

“Dentists want a safe and effective procedure for their patients, and they know that if they buy a Sulzer Mixpac mixing tip, it will be safe and effective,” Murphy said. “Sulzer’s mixing tips are highly engineered in a robotic, clean-room factory in Switzerland. They are made only in Switzerland. Dentists know that when they buy a proper mixing tip, it will mix completely and effectively, which means the procedure will be flawless. It means the dentist knows that it will be a quality procedure.”

The problem with a lookalike or copycat mixing tips is that they are made under unknown cleanliness conditions, and unknown plastics are used to create them, Murphy said. “The engineering quality varies greatly from manufacturer to manufacturer,” he said.

Murphy said that the message Sulzer wants to get across to dentists, who work so hard on their reputations and on building practices and client bases, is that this key mixing tip costs just 50 cents. “A well-informed dentist would not risk his or her reputation just to save a few pennies,” he said.

The good news, according to the company, is that there are a numbers of steps dentists can take to be sure they are buying genuine MIXPAC mixers. First, look for the Mixpac quality seal and trademarked logo, which identifies the tip as being Swiss-made. Be sure to buy from a reputable re-seller, and avoid bargain hunting on the Internet.

Murphy summarized: “We are winning the battle on the legal front, but we are also reaching out to the dentists, because we know that if we can reduce the demand from the dentist for these copycat products, that that’s when we will ultimately make sure that only original and safe products are available for the customer.”

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