Around P200 million worth of counterfeit Louis Vuitton (LV) products were confiscated from 33 stalls inside a mall in Mandaue City on Thursday morning, October 17, 2024.
The store owners were not present during the raid, which was conducted by operatives from the Intellectual Property Rights Division of the National Bureau of Investigation (IPRD-NBI) Manila.
According to John Ignacio, team leader of IPRD-NBI Manila, their office received a complaint in August regarding counterfeit LV bags, belts, shoes, wallets, and other products being displayed in Cebu.
A Louis Vuitton representative, who requested anonymity, told radio station DyHP in an interview that the company sought help from NBI Manila after learning about the widespread sale of counterfeit LV products in stores on the second floor of a mall in Mandaue City.
The representative said they first conducted a test buy and brought the items to the capital for examination, where the goods were confirmed to be fake.
In response, the NBI secured search warrants from the Regional Trial Court in Manila for the 33 stores.
“Actually bago mag complain ang Louis Vuitton sa office namin, nag conduct na sila ng market survey sa Cebu kasi nga nag tayo ang Louis Vuitton ng boutique, nagkaroon sila ng market survey dito yun natonton nila na marami pala ang nag bebenta ng peke ng produkto nila,” Ignacio said.
(Actually, before Louis Vuitton filed a complaint with our office, they conducted a market survey in Cebu where they discovered that many stores were selling fake versions of their products.)
Ignacio explained that before the raid, they also made a test purchase as well as surveillance.
Before the company opened a branch in a hotel resort in South Road Properties in Cebu City, genuine LV products could only be purchased in Manila.
Ignacio advised the public to buy LV products only from legitimate stores.
“Hopefully, with the operation that we did na sana matigil na, at least for our brand matigil ang counterfeiting natin, makikita natin na madami-dami pa talaga dito na natitira,” the LV representative said.
Charges for trademark infringement and unfair competition are now being readied by the NBI-IPRD Manila against the stall owners. / AYB, TPT