Louis Vuitton and Burberry sue Canadian counterfeiters for fakes
Take a stroll down Spadina Avenue, peeking into Chinatown’s many nondescript knock-off handbag emporiums. But don’t look too closely, because luxury brands Louis Vuitton and Burberry are starting to fight back, and they’ve targeted Vancouver-based producers and distributors Singga Enterprises, Carnation Fashion Company and Toronto-based Altec Productions (likely names that no one has heard of until today).
In what sounds like a sting operation, private investigations took place over two years in order to gain insight on the inner workings of these three knock-off kings. Each company will stand in court facing off against lawyer Michael Manson, who will be serving the interests of Louis Vuitton and Burberry.
Unlike Sex and the City’s Samantha Jones, consequences are expected to be more severe than getting kicked out of the Playboy Mansion for mistaking a real high-end bag for a fake. In fact, Manson is seeking up to $3 million in damages for trademark and copyright infringement—potentially the largest anti-counterfeiting judgment in Canadian history.
The decision to target Canada’s ring of knock-off dealers comes after Louis Vuitton’s crackdown on counterfeits that brought the number of fake Louis bags seized by U.S. customs officials down from 2 million in 2004 to 200,000 in 2010. Although Carnation Fashion Company’s owner, Jessie Guo, claims to have had no prior knowledge of “Canadian trademark law,” we wonder why these bags are rarely sold in plain sight.
• Louis Vuitton, Burberry sue Canadian companies over alleged fakes [Canadian Press]
• Louis Vuitton, Burberry suing Canadian companies [Canadian Press]
I applaud both Louis Vuitton and Burberry for suing these companies. Althought I have not been able to afford either of these brands, I may in the future. I hate the fact that I purchased a Coach bag full price and I see the little girls running around with knock-offs of my same bag. It is just not fair. Some of the knock-offs are very similar to the real thing. Its just not kosher.
that’s why you are upset??lol because it belittles your vanity status?
why not be mad because it puts people out of jobs??
p.s. say hi toyour neighbours,the joneses
The luxury brand industry is THRIVING… trust me, no one is losing their job… I regret not knowing where I could have found these bags before the fuzz found them. Could have saved the airfare to NYC…
It is not about losing jobs or being vain. These two luxury manufacturers – as many others out there – have established a reputation of more than a century for creating beautiful items with extensive craftmanship and with an eye for perfection. Many of the iconic items they have created are still made (knocked-of) today by other brands (ie: Burberry’s trench coat.) Their heritage and culture is being belittled by counterfeiters like the ones in this article. I’m glad to see this happening. Counterfeiting has been a long fight, and it still is.
On another note, people really need to know that knock-offs and counterfeiting are NOT the same thing.
A knock-off is something “copied,” in any form, by another company/designer, but the item doesn’t have the label of the original creator/designer.
A counterfeit product is entirely, 100% fake.