Counterfeit Products Seized During Colombian Raid

Earlier this year, a Colombian law firm conducted raids in liaison with the Policia Fiscal y Aduanera on counterfeit bearings identified with the trademark “FAG”, owned by Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG (also known as The Schaeffler Group). After six months of investigative monitoring, authorities were able to seize 39,997 counterfeit items with a value estimated at $1,816,106 USD. The Schaeffer Group, a privately owned major manufacturer of rolling element bearings for automotive, aerospace, and industrial uses, typically supplies products for applications in 60 industrial sectors, as well as numerous automotive applications. For the Industrial division alone, The Schaeffler Group reports that they can, under the FAG brand, supply nearly 225,000 products.

Considering these statistics, this seizure of counterfeit products by the Colombian authorities has significantly aided in the withdrawal of counterfeit products from the market, products that could have potentially caused harm to innocent consumers. Similarly, authorized dealers of the FAG brand have been spared the potential drop in sales that they would otherwise have experienced. While the seizures were made in the cities of Bogota, Barranquilla, and Medellin, investigators have confirmed that the imports of the counterfeit items came from China; this comes as no surprise, as, according to the Global Intellectual property Center, 84% of all counterfeit goods seized come from China and Hong Kong.

The raid regarding the FAG counterfeit goods came hot on the heels of two other counterfeit seizures; on February 15, 1600 Ray-Ban and 310 Oakley sunglasses (1910 pairs in total) were seized in Bogota. Three days later, on February 18, 512 pairs of CROCS footwear were also seized in the capital

Fuente: http://www.inta.org/INTABlog/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=306#.V2rG6LjhC00