20,000 DVD players seized in Fremont
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20,000 DVD players seized in Fremont
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cg...NG5RJDKKS4.DTL
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Originally Posted by SFGate.com
(06-13) 15:40 PDT FREMONT - A multi-agency task force has executed a search warrant on the country's largest importer of DVD recorders and players, confiscating eight tractor-trailer loads of recorders allegedly bearing counterfeit trademarks.
James Sibley, a Santa Clara County deputy district attorney, said the warrant was served June 8 on Fremont-based Cyberhome USA, a U.S. affiliate of Cyberhome Taiwan. Sibley said the value of the 20,000 units exceeds $2 million.
Sibley said agents from the REACT task force, an anti-counterfeiting strike team composed of agents from five California counties and the state and federal governments, served the warrant. No arrests have been made, Sibley said, but a criminal investigation is ongoing.
Representatives of Cyberhome could not be reached for comment.
Cyberhome had a leasing agreement with Philips Co. to manufacturer relatively low-end recorders and players, Sibley said.
"Cyberhome ran up a $22 million bill with Philips, which they didn't pay," Sibley said. "So Philips pulled their license. The problem is that Cyberhome kept manufacturing and selling recorders and players under the Philips trademark."
The products weren't inferior, Sibley said -- essentially, they were the same as the recorders and players sold under the licensing agreement. But they were not authorized by Philips -- and Philips wasn't getting paid.
"This is about trademark infringement, not product quality," Sibley said. Sibley said Cyberhome USA was importing the unauthorized DVD equipment "by the shipping container load" from Taiwan.
Sibley said that trademark infringement is a mushrooming problem for American business, with China and Taiwan accounting for most of the violations.
"We anticipate it will get even worse as the manufacturing base in those countries expands," he said.
Sony was once the largest exporter of DVD equipment to the United States, but Cyberhome stripped them of that position last year, Sibley said.
"Now Sony may be number one again," he said.
James Sibley, a Santa Clara County deputy district attorney, said the warrant was served June 8 on Fremont-based Cyberhome USA, a U.S. affiliate of Cyberhome Taiwan. Sibley said the value of the 20,000 units exceeds $2 million.
Sibley said agents from the REACT task force, an anti-counterfeiting strike team composed of agents from five California counties and the state and federal governments, served the warrant. No arrests have been made, Sibley said, but a criminal investigation is ongoing.
Representatives of Cyberhome could not be reached for comment.
Cyberhome had a leasing agreement with Philips Co. to manufacturer relatively low-end recorders and players, Sibley said.
"Cyberhome ran up a $22 million bill with Philips, which they didn't pay," Sibley said. "So Philips pulled their license. The problem is that Cyberhome kept manufacturing and selling recorders and players under the Philips trademark."
The products weren't inferior, Sibley said -- essentially, they were the same as the recorders and players sold under the licensing agreement. But they were not authorized by Philips -- and Philips wasn't getting paid.
"This is about trademark infringement, not product quality," Sibley said. Sibley said Cyberhome USA was importing the unauthorized DVD equipment "by the shipping container load" from Taiwan.
Sibley said that trademark infringement is a mushrooming problem for American business, with China and Taiwan accounting for most of the violations.
"We anticipate it will get even worse as the manufacturing base in those countries expands," he said.
Sony was once the largest exporter of DVD equipment to the United States, but Cyberhome stripped them of that position last year, Sibley said.
"Now Sony may be number one again," he said.
0==WW==0
"…axles of evil…" - george w. bush
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