Fitness Brands, Inc., creators of the Ab Circle Pro, said that so far
customs agents have seized more than 13 shipments at the Long
Beach/Los Angeles Seaport representing more than 10,000 counterfeit Ab
Circle Pro units. Fitness Brands said it is working closely with the
U.S.
Customs Service to pursue action against the importers as well as the
manufacturers in China.

“That's where we put our foot down,” says Michael Casey, CEO of Fitness Brands, Inc., creators of the Ab Circle Pro.

“Of course it's harmful to us,” Casey continued, “but we're more
concerned about the prospect of harm to consumers and the fact that
they are purchasing a product in good faith with our name on it and
then receiving a lesser value.”

According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, counterfeit and pirated goods
seizures totaled more than $272.7 million last year, a 38 percent
increase over the previous year.

Not only does this illegal practice hurt the company whose trademarked
products are being copied and add to legal expenses, it's harmful to
the eventual buyers who can end up with an inferior product that is
potentially dangerous and badly made. It also hurts companies in the
supply chain of legitimate manufacturers and importers such as
packaging vendors, shippers, retailers, secondary website retailers,
and of course, the owners and employees of the company being
cannibalized.

“We have worked hard at establishing protection for the Ab Circle Pro
through a strategy of obtaining patents, trademarks and copyrights
worldwide as well as a robust and effective approach to enforcing these
rights,” stated Ross Epstein, Partner at The Nath Law Group, a boutique
intellectual property law firm, “including these seizures at the port,
pursuing infringers who advertise counterfeit products online, closely
working with Fitness Brands and its distributors, tracking down the
rogue factories and trading companies in China and pursuing companies
and individuals that are importing counterfeit goods wherever the
product is being sold.”

China, the number one source country in 2008 for counterfeit goods
seized, accounted for $221.6 million or 81 percent of the total
domestic value of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) seizures. The
value of seized counterfeits from China rose 40 percent compared to
2007. India came in second, accounting for six percent in the value of
seized counterfeit goods.

“We will continue to aggressively pursue the counterfeiters and
cooperate with the authorities to see that they are punished,” added
Casey. “It's wrong and we're not going to just stand by and let it
happen.”