The ICEman cometh

[panerai153]

Read this interesting article today in USA Today. You can read the full article on their website. "Raids crack down on counterfeit goods"

From this article, one has to wonder if this is going to have any impact on the replica watch trade as we enjoy it. Several years ago, there was a big push by ICE and US Customs to stop counterfeit watches entering the USA. We had quite a few posts, lots of folks, including myself were pretty afraid to order from anywhere outside the USA because of the threat of confiscation. At that time, our perpetual nemesis Brian Bokate (see below), was vowing that he would put a stop to the counterfeit Rolex market. Over time, things quited down, Customs rode off on another quest, and everythig pretty much turned to normal.Looks to me like things are heating up again.It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Will Customs crack down at every POE and make the importation of replicas very risky, or will they turn up the heat right before Christmas. and then lose interest as Winter turns to Spring!!

Article in USA Today

DALLAS When federal and sheriff's investigators showed up with a search warrant at Bargain Corner Jean Store here, they found about $130,000 worth of fake True Religion, Ed Hardy, Affliction and other high-end jeans, T-shirts and sneakers. They hauled out 1,500 items in 40 trash bags and 18 boxes from the store, the owner's minivan and employees' cars

Counterfeiting "is a multibillion-dollar industry, a global crime and a serious threat," says Marcy Forman, director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center in Arlington, Va.

So, just as the stores and websites that sell knockoff designer clothes and accessories were gearing up for their holiday rush, so too were the investigators and agents. Raids, including the one here coordinated by ICE officials, hit 41 stores, flea markets and warehouses in the U.S. and Mexico for six days beginning Dec. 8, confiscating $26 million in counterfeit goods, ranging from fake fashions to pharmaceuticals.

Last week, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's Office of Special Enforcement closed 31 stores on Canal Street in Chinatown for selling counterfeit designer goods.

"When a person buys a counterfeit, they're actually supporting organized crime," says Brian Brokate, general counsel of Rolex Watches USA. "One of the challenges for the industry as a whole is public awareness."

ICE's Forman says there is at least a "dotted line" to terrorism, noting the "tri-border area" of Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina "has been known to house potential terrorist organizations" and is also a hotbed of counterfeiting.

Some shoppers can fall for claims that stores or websites purchased overstock from high-end department stores or brands. And some of the knockoffs look so legitimate that investigators have to look for designer-placed indicators to determine authenticity. But Rolex's Brokate says he believes only a small percentage of consumers who buy counterfeit luxury goods are duped.

When Rolex's trademark appears on a shoddy-looking product that eventually breaks, consumers aren't getting their money's worth, either, says Brokate. A consumer who buys a fake Rolex for $200 "could have gone into Macy's and bought Seiko or Casio or some other brand watch in that price range" with some assurance of quality, Brokate says.

Tired of watching their brands become synonymous with counterfeiting, manufacturers are stepping up their trademark enforcement.

Gucci is suing Woodforest National Bank in Texas for processing credit cards for counterfeiters. Tiffany is appealing a counterfeiting case it lost against eBay, which claimed it was the jeweler's, not the auction site's, responsibility to weed out fakes. And LVMH, parent company of brands including Louis Vuitton and Fendi, is suing Internet service provider Akanoc Solutions, alleging it knowingly allowed online counterfeiting. Coach alone has filed 100 lawsuits in the past year.

In October, it sued Target for the second time over trademark violations, this time for selling purses it says are identical to Coach's.

The brands also often raid businesses with U.S. law enforcement each year.

"The whole idea is to create a general deterrent," says Coach general counsel Todd Kahn. While "you can't stop all counterfeiting," the company hopes to convince criminals that "if you counterfeit Coach, it's an expensive proposition."

Late last month, Michelle Bunfill of Granite Bay, Calif., was sentenced to 36 months probation and 10 months of home detention after pleading guilty to selling fake Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana and other counterfeit purses and accessories at purse parties and "recruiting others" to sell them at their own parties, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Robin Taylor. From June 2006 to August 2007, Bunfill's gross sales were $184,046.

Handbags! Handbags!

Like the high-end designers they copy, counterfeiters have their favorite hubs of commerce, typically Harry Hines Boulevard in Dallas, Miami, Los Angeles and New York City's Canal Street. Canal Street became such a haven for knockoffs that it was a regular stop on many tour bus routes. Out-of-state tourists have often been seen walking the streets with black trash bags filled with purses that investigators say are brought home and sold at purse parties.

Police and the brands have cracked down so much in this area that it can be difficult to even find a store openly selling knockoffs. When a USA TODAY reporter visited recently, hooded men often stood shoulder to shoulder on the sidewalks whispering "handbags, handbags" to passersby, waiting for a hint of interest.

The big chill on Canal Street counterfeiting started in February of last year when city officials shut down 31 stores in Chinatown for counterfeiting offenses. A three-story "mall" that took up a city block still sits empty.

[lanikai]

Had the same scenario a couple of years ago Arthur.. I think it's more for show and pity the unlucky stiffs who are "made an example of", probably don't grease the wheels enough..

[Agrippa]

Big yawn - heard it all before, about so many different things. There is no way US Customs or any other country's customs can put more than a slight dent in the import of counterfeit goods. There isn't a customs force in the western world that isn't already stretched to breaking point and well beyond in dealing with narcotics, illegal immigration, sex trafficking and god knows what else, so any campaign against counterfeits will necessarily be short, very limited in scope and hence have little effect.

[panerai153]

I agree with you guys, it's been said and done before, however with the idiots we have in Washington, who knows what the next "Cause" will be?

I think what's happening is the same thing that happened a couple of years ago, the big luxury goods companies decide, enoughs enough, and they start putting the heat on Congress,congressmen always in mortal fear that the big contributors will pull their donations, put the heat on Federal agencies like Customs and Homeland Security, etc. and they put on this big "Dog and Pony" Show. Remember two or three years back the photos of hundreds of counterfeit watches being crushed by the highway roller?

The real threat and possibly why all this is coming up is the sheer number of critical counterfeits, such as aircraft parts, pharmaceuticals, etc. Now that is scary. Maybe ICE is practicing up on handbag sellers before they go after the guys who are selling fake jet engine turbine blades!

Arthur