Louis Vuitton Files Suit in Connection with Counterfeit Goods on Alibaba

Fake Louis Vuitton Speedy bag

LOUIS VUITTON have fallen out once again with China's leading online e-tailer TAOBAO MARKETPLACE less than three years after the two signed a collaboration agreement Delorate Agency reported 14/10/2013.

The agreement Alibaba Group, China’s massive e-commerce firm, had announced with their partnership with French high fashion label Louis Vuitton that aimed to stop the sale of counterfeit luxury goods in China. And let's not forget the Taobao Teams Up With Apple, Gucci To Remove Counterfeit Products Delortae Agency reported 20/3/2011 

The Alibaba-owned Taobao marketplace, China’s largest consumer-to-consumer online shopping outlet, is often flooded with knock-off designer goods in a country that largely turns a blind eye to their distribution. Alibaba, as a whole, handles more web transactions annually than both Amazon and eBay combined.

Louis Vuitton has filed suit in Beijing in connection with the sale of counterfeit goods on TaoBao, Alibaba’s e-commerce marketplace. According to Louis Vuitton’s complaint, which was filed in Beijing’s Haidian District Court, three individual sellers on the TaoBao platform were formerly convicted of operating a “serious” counterfeit counterfeit involving the sale of Louis Vuitton goods between 2011 and 2014. As a result, Louis Vuitton is owed 250,000 yuan, or $37,900 at current exchange, in economic damages.

Delortae Agency also reported in 2013, copyright and trademark infringement lawsuits against a number of counterfeit websites. Louis Vuitton set their sights on iOffer and their individual users (iOffer is a San Francisco based online trading community website that consists almost entirely of China based sellers) Websites also did not avoid their "net" as www.cheaplouisvuitton.com, a major infringement website blatantly flouting the major brands trademark with fakes, were also sued by the design house.

Like Chanel, before them, targeting individual sellers Louis Vuitton is targeting individual iOffer sellers also, for selling counterfeit items rather than to direct the suits to iOffer itself. No longer limiting themselves to the suits against domains alone and taking the fight straight to individual iOffer member merchants. Gucci also have sued individual iOffers members in similar suits against 102 individual sellers.

This maybe a trend that we will be seeing more of. Since the law seems to be telling the brands in recent rulings is that it is the brand responsibility to to protect it's property as shown in eBay Defeats Tiffany in Counterfeit Jewellery Suit, which Delortae Agency reported 20/10/2013.

Tracking the vast majority of the individual sellers will be difficult to locate and identify as they grow more sophisticated in covering their tracks to protect their proceeds from counterfeit sales. This does mean however, their individual shops within Marketplace websites such as eBay, Taobao, iOffer or Amazon, will be shut down immediately supported by a court order. 

Any funds Department of Justice, in association with the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Centre, who can prove and trace the funds that individual sellers have amassed from the sale of counterfeits, they can be turned over to the respected brand houses who filed the suit. 

This sent a very strong message to the brands but this current case could be sending a stronger one to the individual sellers.

✿ » For trusted authentic luxury products & services, visit The UK's Most Trusted Online Reseller


RELATED ARTICLES
» Help Us Fight Fakes, Alibaba's Impassioned Plea to Global Brands
» Taobao Marketplace Teams up with Louis Vuitton to Combat Counterfeits
» Luxury Group Kering sues Alibaba for helping counterfeiters
» Taobao Teams Up With Apple, Gucci To Remove Counterfeit Products
» Gucci Awarded 144.2 Million Dollars in Case Against Counterfeit Fake Fashion

The Comité Colbert launches new anti-counterfeiting campaign

New campaign slogan

Yes, you read correctly. According the recently released Press Notice from COMITÉ COLBERÍÈQQ    Press release May 30, 2012.


Following on from Delortae Agency earlier blog post French Luxury Brands Fighting back against Counterfeits The Comité Colbert launches new anti-counterfeiting campaign to add a little more luxury muscle to the campaign to support luxury counterfeiting. Do we love it? Yes we do.


Buy a fake Cartier, get a genuine criminal record” “With this phone, you better be ready to call your lawyer! “Real ladies don ’t like fake” “Are you ready to unravel this one? “A bet on the wrong horse can be very expensive” “Counteifeits are no bed of roses” “Lucky charm? Unlucky at customs”.


Seven new tag lines were launched by the chairmen of companies belonging to the Comité Colbert, known to use humour as a way to get travellers’ attention. Ten thousand posters will be displayed in French airports, courtesy of French Customs as well as to partnerships developed by the Comité Colbert with the French airport authority, Air France and the urban furniture specialist J.C. Decaux.


Longchamp and Van Cleef & Arpels have joined ranks with Cartier, Chanel, Christian Dior, Lacoste and Louis Vuitton, involved for years in this initiative conducted under the auspices of the French national anti­counterfeiting committee (CNAC). And the initiative has proven effective: Consumers in France are more aware than those in
other EU countries that common European laws exist to protect intellectual property rights (84% of respondents in France, which ranked first among EU countries, according to a Eurobarometer survey in 2009).

Given the magnitude of trafficking, the Comité Colbert continues to give top priority to the
fight against counterfeiting. In France, the number of knock­offs seized by Customs went from 200,000 in 1994 to 8.9 million in 201 l. It is estimated that counterfeiting costs the French economy between 30,000 and 40,000 jobs a year and 6 billion euros in losses. The number of counterfeit products sold online and seized by Customs has grown exponentially, increasing by a factor of nearly 20 in five years.

“The protection of intellectual properly rights makes it possible to grow competitive French businesses and safeguard French jobs. The combat of the Comite’ Colbert, which is of long date, illustrates the luxury sector’s commitment to the fight against counterfeiting to protect our know-how ana’ creation,” declares Elisabeth Ponsolle des Portes, President and CEO of the Comité Colbert.

The campaign has been taken up elsewhere in Europe: the Customs administrations in six other EU countries have adopted it to raise awareness among their citizens. There are now local language versions in Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Romania, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

For luxury authentic products & services, visit http://www.luxuryonlinestore.net

FBI takes down major counterfeit operation based out of China

The spread of counterfeit goods has become global in recent years, with the Internet being seen as a lucrative source to sell imitation products.

As part of an attempt to combat the selling and distribution of fake goods, the U.S. Department of Justice has seized more than $1.5 million in profits from the sales of fake sportswear manufactured in China.

The seizure of the money came as the result of an investigation into the sale of counterfeit items on commercial websites, which, according to a press release from the Department of Justice, also resulted in the seizure of three domain names used in the sale of the counterfeit sports goods.

The funds were detained from interbank accounts and six money service business accounts.

A Chinese Operation Dismantled

As court documents state, the individuals involved in the distribution of the fake goods conducted sales and processed payments using money service business accounts and then wired proceeds to bank accounts held at a Chinese bank.

According to the DoP press release, the developments into combating online counterfeit crime follow quickly on the heels of another FBI success last month, when the FBI seized more than $890,000 in fake sports apparel being sold on commercial websites.

These latest developments in fighting Internet counterfeit crime are part of a new law enforcement initiative by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), known as Operation In Our Sites.

Operation In Our Sites was launched in June 2010 that aims to “target the sale of counterfeit goods and intellectual property piracy on the Internet.” (

Four months following its launch, the federal law enforcement initiative rolled out on Cyber Monday – a term created by companies to persuade people to shop online – when, according to a Forbes report, 82 websites were seized during the Cyber Monday-related operation.

Taking Out Counterfeit Operations

The Staggering Costs of Chinese Counterfeiting

According to ABC News, Chinese counterfeiting costs foreign companies an estimated $20 billion a year in lost profits.

ABC News went undercover to reveal China’s huge counterfeit industry, and found that there is an amazing variety in counterfeit goods, ranging from the latest DVDs to the latest versions of software.

Following an inspection of a pair of ski gloves, emblazoned with a prominent North Face label, Charles Scholz, a genuine “fake buster” and the Asia director for the security consulting company, Kroll Associates, who is regularly hired by international corporations to ‘root out’ counterfeiters, told ABC News:

“The tag is real, the product is not.”

He told ABC News that not only would the gloves not keep you dry, but “…if you buy this, you get soaked.”

While U.S. officials are conducting large operations to combat online counterfeit crime, which is costing foreign companies an estimated $20 billion a year in lost profits, officials are still reluctant to attempt to shut it down completely, as the counterfeit business itself creates millions of jobs during a time when jobs are badly needed.

As Charles Scholz told ABC News:

“Actually, trying to put a stop to it [Chinese counterfeiting] is going to take some fundamental changes in the society and economy here.” 

During the Cyber Monday operation, federal agents made undercover online purchases of designer and sports items such as golf equipment, handbags, sunglasses, footwear and sports jerseys, all of which were purchased from online retailers that were suspected of selling counterfeit items.

As suspected, all of the items featured fake labels and trademarks.

In February this year, in the biggest seizure to date under Operations In Our Site, federal authorities announced they had seized and shut down 307 domains, 16 of which were allegedly involved in selling unauthorised and fake sports goods, including National Football League paraphernalia.

To date, a total of 761 domain names have been seized from websites used in the sale and distribution of either counterfeit goods or illegally copied works as a result of Operation In Our Sites.

In conversations about counterfeit items being sold, the issue of China crops up regularly. The general belief is that China seems to be the biggest culprit when it comes to producing and selling fake goods.

That belief is somewhat justified by the relentless flow of reports emerging involving Chinese counterfeit items, such as the recent announcement by the Department of Justice about the detainment of proceeds from the sale of counterfeit sports apparel that had been manufactured in China.

Content thanks to Top Secret Writers

References & Image Credits:
Justice.gov
Forbes
Wired
ABC News
ABC News Radio
LA Times

French luxury brands fighting back against counterfeits

FRENCH luxury brand from Chanel to Louis Vuitton have recently launched a campaign with several European countries, to fight back against the increasingly high number of counterfeits that are killing our industry.

It is now secret that Delortae Agency is committed to brand protection and we can confirm first hand that the global market on counterfeits. Largely due to Asia where 85 percent of articles seized in Europe are produced and the increasing popularity of on-line shops that give the buyer a sense of anonymity and impunity.

To fight the scourge, the Comite Colbert grouping 75 French luxury goods makers including Dior, Cartier and Remy Martin, is launching a poster campaign in French airports ahead of the summer to dissuade travellers from buying fakes.

"You can call your lawyer with this telephone,'' reads one of the posters, above a picture of a counterfeit Chanel mobile.

France has the toughest anti-counterfeit legislation in the world, explains Comite Colbert boss Elisabeth Ponsolle des Portes, with simply possessing a counterfeit good here considered a crime since 1994.
"In France you can be fined up to 300,000 euros and jailed for three years'' if you own counterfeit goods, the posters say.

The Comite Colbert has staged campaigns every two years since 1995, but this time Italy, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Croatia are getting involved, with their customs officers able to use the posters for free.

Ponsolle des Portes hopes that more countries will get on board. "This is important for Europe, in terms of jobs,'' she said.

Counterfeit seizures doubled in Europe between 2009 and 2010, reaching 103 million items worth 1.1 billion euros ($1.37 billion), with customs officers themselves often unable to tell the fake from the real.
And according to 2009 Eurobarometer statistics, 22 percent of EU citizens have unknowingly bought counterfeit goods.

As home to many of the world's best known luxury brands, France is particularly exposed. Fake goods cost the economy 30,000 jobs and six billion euros in lost revenues every year, according to the Comite Colbert.
Clothes, sunglasses, perfume, cosmetics, leather goods, half the 8.9 million counterfeit articles seized in France in 2011 were luxury goods, with Louis Vuitton products the most copied.

Globally the underground fake goods economy is booming thanks to Internet shopping, as testified to by the increasing number of items seized in postal sorting offices.

Which is why the Comite Colbert now wants to get the cooperation of banking groups and payment handlers, such as Mastercard, Visa, American Express and PayPal, to track the illegal trade online.

For luxury authentic products & services, visit http://www.luxuryonlinestore.net/

additional content thanks to Herald Sun

Louis Vuitton Sues San Antonio Flea Market

Louis Vuitton HQ

Opening arguments began this week in a lawsuit filed by luxury fashion brand Louis Vuitton against San Antonio’s Eisenhauer flea market. The French company says the flea market allowed vendors to sell counterfeit products and is seeking $18 million.

Louis Vuitton’s lawyer said in opening arguments that the company sent representatives to the Eisenhauer Market and found as many as 15 vendors selling fake Louis Vuitton products, the San Antonio Express-News reports.

A lawyer for the market said its on-site manager was not trained to recognized counterfeit items.

A statement issued by Louis Vuitton last year and posted on San Antonio NBC affiliate WOAI’s website says the company has been fighting counterfeiting around the world for years.

The Eisenhauer flea market in San Antonio

Photo by Jon Mallard http://www.flickr.com/photos/mallard10/

“Thanks to this fully-dedicated team of lawyers and former law enforcement professionals based in Paris with regional offices in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Milan, Dubai, New York and Buenos Aires, thousands of anti-counterfeiting raids are performed each year,” the company says in the statement.

The lawsuit was originally filed in February 2011. A commenter on the blog Strange in San Antonio said he had purchased a fake bag from the market, and the quality was questionable.

“The stitching started to let go after a few months and it ended up looking pretty ratty after a year,” Keith Allen K posted.

Louis Vuitton is also embroiled in a legal dispute with Warner Brothers over the appearance of fake handbags in the movie Hangover Part II, see Delortae Agency's according MiMi's Blog.

And just last week in Orlando, police arrested a couple and accused them of selling counterfeit Louis Vuitton bags at a flea market, along with other fake designer brands, the Orlando Sentinel reported. 

via KutNew & http://www.luxuyonlinestore.net

Tags: 

Discreet Luxury Goods Still Favoured in Financial Crisis?

Financial crisis? What financial crisis? Are we still happy to pay big money for luxury handbags It was only the middle of last year that due to the recession customers were spending up on logo free handbags. Luxury lovers are rejecting signature prints and other heavily branded bags for more subtle designs.Lana Marks handmade leather alligator Positano bag

Remember when designers such as American Lana Marks, whose hand made leather Alligator Positano bag sold for £15,000 showed us we were still prepared to splash the cash, albeit, more discreetly.

Lana Marks handmade leather Alligator Positano Bag

So with the rise in VAT, fuel and endless others no doubt on the way are we still spending money on less obvious lines?  The weaker pound had enticed shoppers from Asia and the rest of Europe. 

The handbag market then exceeded £500 million in the United Kingdom for the first time last year, but market researcher Mintel still predicted a slump then due to the recession.

Will the January sales figures be buried conveniently as the UK brace themselves for government cuts? So I ask the question, are we still spending but less obviously??

See my own blog on Luxury And The Cuts In Spending Love Mimi

RE: PHOTO OPINION SERVICE GUCCI PELHAM SHOULDER BAG

Hello Amy,

Delortae Agency thank you for sending your pictures in for our consideration.

These photos were shown to our Panel of three Appraisers. They all have to give their reasons on authenticity before making a conclusive determination to which they all have to be in agreement.

Unfortunately, it is their carefully considered opinion this item is a replica.

Thank you for using our Photo Opinion Service, which we remind you is completely free of charge.

Photos presented to Panel: 16/06/09
Item Location: Blog Subscribers Own

RE: PHOTO OPINION SERVICE D&G LEOPARD BAG

Hello Jess, Thank you for sending these pictures for our consideration.

The photos are shown to our panel of three Appraisers. They all have to give their reasons on authenticity before making a conclusive determination to which they are all in agreement.

This eBay seller has deliberately taken these photos from a distance! Even the so called 'close up' is distant and blurred.

Unfortunately, their all in agreement this item is indeed Counterfeit.

We strongly advise you do not make payment on this item, if you have already done so, try to stop payment through your bank immediately in order to avoid PayPal dispute having to be raised. It will be cheaper and quicker for you than enlisting our Written Statement Service.

Thank you for using our Photo Opinion Service, which we remind you is completely free of Charge.

Good Luck

Photos presented to Panel 24/06/09
Item Location: HAS BEEN REMOVED