New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc. announced that they, together with Chinese officials of the provincial AI (Administration for Industry and Commerce) offices, have confiscated counterfeit athletic shoes under the name “New Barlun” in China.
The New Barlun shoes infringe upon New Balance trademark rights and were seized at New Barlun retail locations throughout China, including Dalian, Kunming, Hangzhou, and Beijing.
“New Balance has a strong worldwide campaign against counterfeiting,” says Ed Haddad, Area Vice President-International at New Balance. “In addition to being a direct infringement on our trademark rights, consumers and retailers who buy fraudulent products such as New Barlun do not get the warranties, service, and quality that New Balance guarantees. We will continue to expose the infringing activities of New Barlun and protect the rights of New Balance through all necessary means of action.
New Balance and a worldwide network of investigators, led by Harley Lewin, Esq. of Greenburg and Traurig in New York, continue to execute the companys brand/trademark protection program. This has resulted in the confiscation of counterfeit product through more than two dozen raids in 2004 as well as the coordination of local prosecutions.
