Help stopping local online sales of fakes...

[Davew833]

I work for KSL TV in Salt Lake City, UT. We operate one of the largest online classifieds websites in the intermountain west-- it easily outdoes Craigslist in online sales of everything from soup to nuts in the local area and beyond. (Here's a link if you're curious.)

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=13

While I don't work directly with the classified ads myself, I'm concerned about the proliferation of fake Rolexes for sale on our site. I'd like to present to the classifieds supervisors a case for "flagging" or removing these fakes, replicas, or whatever they are but I'd like some kind of documentation that sales of such are, in fact, illegal. Can anyone point me to some good reference materials?

Craigslist seems to have a fairly good system of eliminating fakes fairly quickly-- I wish our website had the same.

[Alcan]

You can start here:

Enforcement

On November 29, 2010, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security seized and shut down 82 websites as part of a U.S. crackdown of websites that sell counterfeit goods, and was timed to coincide with "Cyber Monday," the start of the holiday online shopping season. Attorney General Eric Holder announced that "by seizing these domain names, we have disrupted the sale of thousands of counterfeit items, while also cutting off funds to those willing to exploit the ingenuity of others for their own personal gain.”

Some U.S. politicians are proposing to fine those who buy counterfeit goods, such as those sold in New York's Canal Street market. In Europe, France has already created stiff sentences for sellers or buyers, with punishments up to 3 years in prison and a € 300,000 fine. Also in Europe, non-profit organizations such as the European Anti-Counterfeiting Network, fight the global trade in counterfeit goods.

During a counterfeit in bust in New York in 2007, federal police seized $200 million in fake designer clothing, shoes, and accessories, from one of the largest-ever counterfeit smuggling rings. Labels seized included Chanel, Nike, Burberry, Polo, Ralph Lauren and Baby Phat. Counterfeit goods which are a "major plague for fashion and luxury brands," and numerous companies have made legal efforts to block the sale of counterfeits from China. Many of the goods are sold to retail outlets in Brooklyn and Queens.

For trademark owners wishing to identify and prevent the importation of counterfeit goods, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency supports a supplemental registration of trademarks through their Intellectual Property Rights e-Recordation program."U.S. Customs and Border Protection Intellectual Property Rights e-Recordation Application" (PDF). U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 2006. https://apps.cbp.gov/e-recordations/...pplication.pdf. Retrieved 2010. These registrations may be supported by brand manuals prepared by or on the behalf of brand owners in order to facilitate the identification of counterfeit goods, including use as evidence by trademark owners as evidence in obtaining court orders for the seizure of infringing merchandise. This mechanism may be used by brand owners to gray market goods, also referred to as channel diversion, in reference to goods produced legitimately but sold through unauthorized distributors and vendors, in addition to counterfeit goods produced as copies of brand name items.

[edit] International agreementsOn October 1, 2011, the governments of eight nations including Japan and the United States signed the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), which is designed help protect intellectual property rights, especially costly copyright and trademark theft. The signing took place a year after lengthy negotiations among 11 parties: Australia, Canada, the European Union, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland and the United States. The EU, Mexico and Switzerland have not yet signed the agreement. Some commentators ague that the agreement is nonetheless worthless without Chinese involvement, as China is the main source of the world's counterfeit goods.

[F&Iguy]

AL thanks for the good info and read

[MoBe]

Try "aiding and abetting" the sale of illegal counterfeit goods or acessory to.