Deckers Outdoor Corp. said that Chinese Public Security Bureau authorities on December 23 seized 244,648 pairs of counterfeit Ugg Australia product, marking the single largest seizure of counterfeit product in the history of the brand. The raid, in Putian City, Fujian Province in China, surpassed the total number of pairs seized in the previous 118 raids in 2010.
The incident was highlighted in Decker's preliminary report on its anti-counterfeiting activities in 2010 on behalf of its Ugg brand. Deckers said significant progress was made in all areas of enforcement, from Customs seizures to website takedowns.
“Counterfeiting is not only a consumer and business fraud issue, but a larger social plague that involves global human rights, child labor and health and safety issues. We are committed to combating counterfeiting to protect our consumers, and the chain of unseen and unknown victims of these crimes,” said Deckers' Chairman and CEO Angel Martinez.
Highlights of 2010 Ugg Anti-Counterfeit Initiatives:
Worldwide Customs seizures netted 154,829 pair of counterfeit Ugg boots and shoes. Customs seizures increased 245% over 2009.
U.K. Trading Standards, the police division that responds to consumer complaints on counterfeit products, seized 21,918 pair.
Deckers succeeded in enforcing against 4,783 counterfeit-dedicated websites worldwide, a 190% increase over 2009.
U.K. Trading Standards, the police division that responds to consumer complaints on counterfeit products, seized 21,918 pair.
Deckers succeeded in enforcing against 4,783 counterfeit-dedicated websites worldwide, a 190% increase over 2009.
Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Deckers filed 3,721 complaints resulting in the removal of organic search links to counterfeit sites that used copyrighted material, an increase of 350% over 2009.
Deckers succeeded in removing 2,350 sponsored links from search engines, disabling websites that sell counterfeit goods while also infringing on Ugg trademarks.
Deckers facilitated the take-down of 30,444 eBay and other auction site listings selling counterfeit Ugg product, an increase of 130% over 2009.
Deckers forced the removal of 504,504 listings on wholesale trade boards, which are mainly China-based manufacturers of counterfeit goods that sell to retailers, eBay and auction sites and flea markets, an increase of 374% over 2009.
Under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA), Deckers filed suit to claim 374 URLs containing “Ugg”, forcing the counterfeit websites to transfer the URLs to Deckers. Under the same Act, Deckers filed for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to freeze the PayPal accounts of 50 China-based counterfeit websites.
Deckers cooperated with and supported Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) on a five-month investigation into a flea market selling counterfeit products based in the Philadelphia suburbs which was raided in November, resulting in the seizure of 700 pairs of counterfeit Ugg product and four sellers detained by ICE. Deckers also supported the U.S. Department of Justice and ICE's “Operation In Our Sites,” which took down more than 80 websites selling counterfeit product, including Ugg, pharmaceuticals, DVDs and music CDs.
Deckers’ Director of Brand Protection Leah Evert-Burks said, “Deckers is taking an active stand against counterfeiters globally, from seizure of product and broad investigations to take-downs of websites, trade boards and auction sites. Because the success of each of our brands is built on the trust of our retail customers and consumers, we will continue to work with lawmakers, Customs and policing authorities and through our own initiatives to ensure that fake product is seized and destroyed, and counterfeiters are punished.”
Deckers also recently filed lawsuits against both Bearpaw and Emu for copyright infringement.
