COUNTERFEIT RAIDS NET 3,000 ITEMS

bruced
September 13, 2007

Three thousand counterfeit pieces of golf equipment have been seized after simultaneous raids on four factories in the Peoples Republic of China.

Three thousand counterfeit pieces of golf equipment have been seized after simultaneous raids on four factories in the Fujian Province of the Peoples Republic of China.
Counterfeit golf clubs, unassembled components such as shafts and club heads, as well as molds to make the counterfeit products were seized on August 25 by the Economic Inspection Team of the Technical Standards Bureau (“TSB”), according to the US Golf Manufacturers Anti-Counterfeiting Working Group (comprised of the Acushnet Company who make Titlist products, Callaway Golf, Cleveland Golf, Nike Golf, PING and the TaylorMade-Adidas Golf Company)
The 3,000 seized counterfeit items carried illegal branding from all six members of the Anti-Counterfeiting Group and overall had a street value of RMB 1.4m (approx. $152,000)
The four raids were conducted after a complaint was filed with the TSB, a civil enforcement authority in the People’s Republic of China, by the US Golf Equipment Manufacturers Anti-Counterfeiting Working Group (“Group”).
The Group was formed some two or three years ago to petition governments to enforce their country’s laws against counterfeiters of golf equipment products.
And as a result of the Group’s efforts, dozens of successful raids on manufacturing, assembly and retail facilities have been conducted by Chinese law enforcement and civil enforcement authorities over the past three years.
Several business operators have been arrested and many have now been prosecuted in the Chinese courts.
“While we are pleased with this recent action, the problem continues to grow and there are very obvious signs of blatant local protectionism by local law enforcement.
“The Group will attempt to lobby the higher level authorities, such as Fujian Provincial Government, Xiamen Municipal Government and Public Security Bureaus to address the Group’s concerns and appeal for more aggressive enforcement efforts.”