Law after fake brand traders

By TONY STICKLEY

Top brand manufacturers are cracking down on counterfeiters, who are costing them millions of dollars in lost sales.

In the latest case, leading United States sportswear maker Russell Athletic has taken High Court action its own lawyers describe as "draconian" against market traders around Auckland.

And now that they have caught some minnows, they are after the large fish.

Russell Athletic, which estimates it is losing tens of thousands of dollars a week through sales of imitation goods in Australia and New Zealand, has hired heavyweight law firm Simpson Grierson to squeeze the rogue traders.

Before Christmas, the High Court issued orders - known as roving Anton Pillar orders or John Doe orders - against a number of unnamed stall holders selling the contraband Russell Athletic merchandise at the Otara, Avondale and Takapuna markets.

The orders allowed Simpson Grierson lawyers, backed by security staff, to seize counterfeit Russell Athletic sportswear.

Three people have been served with papers but Simpson Grierson partner Tracey Walker said there were bigger fish to fry.

"One of the purposes behind these orders is to obtain the names and identities of those higher up the distribution chain - those who are responsible for manufacturing the counterfeit merchandise," she said, after an adjourned High Court hearing in Auckland yesterday.

The orders required the market traders to name their suppliers and say where they got the bogus Russell Athletic clothing.

"In many instances, it is the only way to get to the root of the problem," said Tracey Walker.

"It may be a draconian order, but it makes people think twice about dealing in counterfeit Russell Athletic products, because they know that sooner or later they will be caught."

Counterfeiting was a huge and widespread problem for many well-known labels like Nike, Oakley and Russell Athletic, costing the firms millions of dollars each year.

In addition to lost sales, there was the dilution of brand value.

"If you can find a garment that looks the same - albeit the quality is not the same - in a market at one-third the price, then you can see why there are people who might look less favourably at the genuine brand," Tracey Walker said.

"If every man, woman and dog in the street is wearing one, it is not the same high-value product."