Over 600 allegedly counterfeit luxury items amounting to nearly $2 million were confiscated during a recent seizure operation, the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) reported.
IPOPHL said in a news statement issued on Friday that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) recently hauled several Louis Vuitton products, including 465 bags, 115 wallets, 20 pouches, nine passport holders and two caps. While there is no final valuation yet, the confiscated items are estimated to be around $1.8 million or P87.5 million.
The fake designer items were being sold virtually via Direk Paul’s Classroom Facebook page. The NBI raid took place in the middle of a live selling event with hundreds of viewers.
IPOPHL noted that Direk Paul’s page had 21,867 followers and was holding 10 live selling events per week prior to the NBI raid which have become viral on social media.
“The seizure is testament to what a report at our Intellectual Property [IP] Rights Enforcement Office [IEO]can do in driving dishonest sellers and unfair competitors out of the market. It also shows the importance of citizens’ and IP right holders’ active participation in our fight against counterfeiting and piracy,” IEO Officer-in-Charge Director Ann N. Edillon said.
Edillon encouraged the public, especially the IP right holders and consumer-victims, to immediately report any similar cases to the agency.
IPOPHL said that the NBI raid came from two reports received by the IEO in December 2020 and January 2021. The customers in said reports complained over the excessively low quality but highly priced products of Direk Paul’s Classroom Facebook page.
“In the end, many have regretted not getting their money’s worth so let this be another lesson to all to be more cautious and stop supporting fakes,” IPOPHL Director General Rowel S. Barba said.
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