NBI seizes P30-M worth of fake Lacoste products

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) scored anew in its campaign against the proliferation of counterfeit products with the confiscation of some P30-million worth of fake Lacoste footwear during a series of raid operations in Pasay City last week, it was learned yesterday.

Agents of the NBI Intellectual Property Rights Division (IPRD), led by their chief lawyer Jose Justo Yap, raided the stores of Esteva General Merchandise inside Merwin Mart in F.B. Harrison Street and U-Need Shopping Center in Taft Avenue Extension.

In an interview with reporters, Yap said they conducted the raid last Oct. 26 by virtue of a search warrant issued by Pasay City regional trial court Judge Jesus Mupas in response to a complaint filed with the bureau by local distributors of Lacoste.

The NBI official said they seized a total of 8,472 pairs of fake Lacoste slip-ons that were being sold for P400 each.

"Lacoste lost a total of P38,975,800 in profits because an original pair of Lacoste slip-ons cost P4,600 each," Yap said.

Yap added that the reported owner of the merchandising company, Wilson Cua, would face charges of trademark infringement and unfair competition.

The NBI-IPRD earlier revealed the continuous proliferation of fake Lacoste shoes and slip-ons in local markets, which alarmed Lacoste footwear distributors in the country.

Yap also stressed that producers of fake shoes have become bolder as they are now able to imitate the latest designs of Lacoste that have not yet been released in the country.

The agents attributed this capability of local counterfeiters to "illegal transfer of technology" from producers of fake shoes in China, where the seized Lacoste products supposedly originated.