News
Great news from the U.S. in the war against counterfeiting!
Our man in the U.S., Jim Bikoff reports that on April 26, 2010, the federal partners of the U.S. National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (“IPR Center”) announced that more than $263 million worth of counterfeit and pirated merchandise was seized by law enforcement around the country in the month of April.
The federal partners of the IPR Center – including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Customs and Boarder Protection, the FBI, the Department of Commerce, and the Food and Drug Administration – made the announcement to commemorate World Intellectual Property Day, which was instituted “by the World Intellectual Property Organization to raise awareness of the threat posed globally by the theft of trademark and intellectual property rights and the dangers posed by counterfeit and substandard products.”
More than $44 million worth of counterfeit merchandise was seized in “Operation Spring Cleaning”, a massive nationwide joint enforcement operation involving federal state and local partners of the IPR Center. It resulted in the arrest of 45 persons on federal and state counterfeiting charges and the seizure 703,684 spurious items in “dozens of cities across the United States.” Targeted brands included “fake Rolex watches, Coach handbags, and Nike Shoes.” Counterfeit merchandise included “DVDs, circuit breakers, pharmaceuticals, video games and controllers, exercise equipment, sportswear and luxury goods” – according to an April report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office “[f]ootwear tops the list of fake goods, followed by consumer electronics, luxury goods and pharmaceutical products.”
An additional $219 million was seized in April as part of a joint U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Boarder Protection investigation of counterfeit and pirated products “manufactured in Asia and smuggled through the Port of Baltimore” in Maryland.
In 2009, U.S. officials seized a total of $260 million USD in counterfeit and pirated goods. In addition, the previous record for the single biggest sweep of counterfeit goods was set in December 2009 with the seizure of roughly $26 million worth of fake toys, Christmas ornaments, perfume and electronics.
In concluding its statement, “the IPR Center also announced the formation of 22 IP Theft Enforcement Teams with 70 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies around the country to join the 10 federal partners of the IPR Center in collaborating on activities to more effectively combat IP theft nationwide.”
Contact Jim here:
James L. Bikoff Silverberg, Goldman & Bikoff, LLP 1101 30th Street, NW Suite 120 Washington, DC 20007 Tel: 202-944-3303 Fax: 202-944-3306 jbikoff@sgbdc.com