Columbia Sportswear Company recently joined forces with Chinese authorities in three separate raids of factories producing counterfeit Columbia Sportswear apparel.
As part of an aggressive campaign to stamp out counterfeiters and protect its unique brand, the recent raids resulted in the seizure of more than 5,700 pieces of counterfeit jackets, vests, pants and 157,000 counterfeit Columbia labels.
Two raids took place in the Jinjiang City, China and the third in Zhuzi City, Zhijiang. The products confiscated in Jinjiang City were destined for local distribution, and the products seized in Zhuzi City were destined for Russia.
“We are very pleased with continued efforts to dissuade counterfeiters from copying our products. We've found that the increasing worldwide recognition of our brands requires us to be extremely aggressive toward the illegal activities of counterfeiters who are trying to deceive customers into buying inferior products,” said Tim Boyle, President and Chief Executive Officer of Columbia Sportswear. “We continue to successfully block the distribution and sale of counterfeits in key markets but it's critical that we also make efforts to stop these counterfeits at the source, such as these three factories.”
Due to the large number of counterfeit labels found at one factory, Columbia is encouraging the Chinese authorities to transfer the case to the Public Security Bureau for criminal sanctions.
