CBP L.A. Seizes $218,000 in Fake Trading Card Games
CBP at the Los Angeles/Long Beach seaport discovered and seized 33,000 trading cards game sets in violation of Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh and Zexal trademarks in a shipment from China. CBP officers discovered the infringing shipment with the cards which, if genuine, the manufacturer’s suggested retail price of the shipment would have been $218,000.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
“This seizure is yet another example on how effective targeting and trademark expertise by CBP officers and import specialists prevent the introduction of counterfeit products into the U.S.,” said Todd C. Owen CBP Director of Field Operations in Los Angeles. Counterfeit playing cards are sold over the Internet, street markets and have been found in legitimate retail stores, said CBP. Nationwide, the total number of intellectual property rights seizures in fiscal year 2011 increased by 24% compared to fiscal year 2010, which is a 325% increase over the past decade, the agency said.