Fake goods seized from seven stores

The knockoffs would have been worth more than $85,000 had they been real


METRO - Seven Burnaby and Delta businesses, four of them in Metrotown, have been raided for selling fake goods, including 2010 Olympic T-shirts and items billed as being made by Gucci, Hugo Boss, Nike and other famous companies.

Another 14 companies are under investigation in what the RCMP say is a significant case of counterfeit goods being found for sale in B.C.

Assisted by the force's anti-counterfeiting division, the Toronto law firm of Kestenberg Siegal Lipkus, which specializes in protection of intellectual property rights, served civil search-and-seize orders on a number of businesses and seized 2,034 counterfeit items including apparel, decals, luxury goods and accessories.

The raids took place in March but were only made public Thursday. The value of the goods, if they were genuine, would be more than $85,000, according to Cpl. Norm Massie of the RCMP's Border Integrity Program.

Lawyer Lorne Lipkus said his investigators found many more stores in Metro Vancouver were selling fake goods, but the team couldn't execute search warrants fast enough.

"As soon as counterfeiters know goods are being seized from another store, they tend to hide their stuff. We figure we would have got three times what we saw if we'd had the time," he said on the telephone from Toronto.

"This is a significantly sized find," said Massie. "The fact that the law firm involved is doing 14 more investigations at the retail level indicates this is a problem."

The seven businesses were raided under civil forfeiture laws that allowed Kestenberg Siegal Lipkus to go in and seize goods known to be fake. The company obtained nine Federal Court "Anton Piller orders" that permit search-and-seizures without notice to protect against destruction of evidence. The law firm then served 14 sets of cease-and-desist orders.

Lipkus said his firm, which does nothing but enforce brand protection for 80 well-known companies, has been working intensively in B.C. Its investigators recently identified a number of stores selling fake goods, either out in the open or surreptitiously.

But this is the first time his investigators saw a significant amount of counterfeit 2010 Winter Olympics goods.

Colin Jarvis, the manager of commercial rights management for Vanoc, said the raids resulted in 1,000 T-shirts with bogus Olympic logos being taken off the market.
Last week Bill Cooper, Vanoc's director of commercial rights management, said high-end fakes, including replicas of Vanoc's anti-theft holographic images, have yet to surface.

Massie said the stores could face criminal charges in addition to the civil remedies the law firm is seeking. However, the RCMP's overworked border integrity unity has its hands full just trying to stop dangerous fake goods at the importer, rather than the retail, level.

"We're processing container loads of goods at the port."



SIX OUTLETS IDENTIFIED BY POLICE

According to RCMP, these six businesses were found to have counterfeit goods. They did not identify the seventh store.

- B.B. Luggage Factory, Burnaby; fake Gucci purses.
- Seraphic Clothing, Metrotown, Burnaby: fake Gucci, Hugo Boss, Nike goods, including men's suits, wallets, shirts, makeup bags, sunglasses, keychains, purses, hats, planners, bracelets, umbrellas, cellphone holders, knapsacks, ties, cufflink sets, belts, jackets, pants and jerseys.

- Lincoln Leather & Luggage, Metrotown, Burnaby: fake Gucci purses and Calvin Klein boxer shorts.

- Aberdeen Auto World Ltd., Metrotown, Burnaby: fake Calvin Klein, Hugo Boss, Nike items, and Vancouver Organizing Committee goods.

- Marcel Leather Ltd., Metrotown Burnaby: fake Nike, Adidas, Calvin Klein, Gucci, Harley-Davidson items, Timberland belts, wallets and purses.

- District Factory Outlet, Delta: Nike, Mark Ecko Enterprises, Hockey Canada goods, including jackets, T-shirts, fleece jackets, jeans, track pants, windbreakers and hockey jerseys.

is Seraphic clothing the one by sears?

^I thought that one started with a P... im tempted to check it out tomorow when i go to metro. But the one in near Sears was like a back room thing.

it's not that great. all their stuff looks SOOO fake.

^ we went in at the MV meet up and it was really bad and obivious, I was tempted to see if that was teh store part of the crack down. I might go to metro tomorrow any ways

i pasted the one we went by during the MV meet up. it was still open and costumers still shopping in there.