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 Assistant Commissioner Baldwin Speaks at Joint CBP-U.S. Golf Manufacturers Anti-Counterfeiting Working Group Press Conference
(08/16/2006)Office of Strategic Trade Assistant Commissioner Daniel Baldwin was the lead speaker at the joint press conference held by CBP and the U.S. Golf Manufacturers Anti-Counterfeiting Working Group on August 16 in Itasca, Ill. The press conference, which coincided with the Professional Golf Association (PGA) Championship, was intended to inform consumers of the problem of counterfeit golf-equipment, discuss CBP’s intellectual property rights enforcement role, and explain what consumers can do to avoid purchasing fake equipment.Representatives from the following major golf brands were present: Acushnet Company (Titleist and Cobra), Callaway Golf, Cleveland Golf, Karsten Manufacturing Corporation (PING Golf), Nike Golf, and Taylor Made-adidas Golf.Assistant Commissioner Baldwin emphasized that counterfeiting and piracy are a global problem requiring cooperation between all intellectual property rights (IPR) stakeholders - private industry, U.S. government agencies, and foreign governments - to stem the flow of fakes and protect the economy and consumers.The Assistant Commissioner also noted that combating the flow of counterfeit goods is a common goal that has long united CBP and right holders in the golf industry. “Together,” he said, “we broke new ground a decade ago when we recognized the importance of the public-private relationship in the fight against trade in fakes.”Further, stated the Assistant Commissioner, “When we began our relationship, counterfeit golf clubs and other equipment were arriving at our borders by the container load and were openly sold on trade show floors.” CBP and industry worked together to increase targeting and interdiction of counterfeit shipments, to support criminal investigations and arrests of IPR thieves, and to promote prosecutions of these criminals.Our collaborative efforts have enjoyed great success, said the Assistant Commissioner. Today, although we’ve not completely eradicated the problem, counterfeit golf equipment mostly arrives in small quantities, and increasingly through Internet distribution channels, not ocean containers. Fakes openly for sale on trade show floors, ready for sale into distribution chains, are rare now. Consumers can trust that the golf equipment they purchase from reputable retailers is the real thing. However, IPR thieves have not given up on their illicit businesses and profits, the Assistant Commissioner emphasized. CBP made more than 800 seizures of counterfeit golf equipment with a domestic value of almost $600,000 in the last two and a half years. Our fight against counterfeiting and piracy must go on. CBP is not only concerned about counterfeit seizures in the golf industry but for thousands of other products as well. In FY 2005 CBP made more than 8,000 seizures of goods violating intellectual property rights with a domestic value of more than $93 million. |
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