PHILIPSBURG--A control of counterfeit goods and piracy of intellectual property was carried out around 10:20am Saturday, October 12, by the St. Maarten Police Force KPSM, along with representatives of Liance Law Firm, the Ramazan bailiff’s office, and a representative of Disosa Brand Protection Services.

 

  The action was done at different marketplaces in Philipsburg, where approximately 140 Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Michael Kors counterfeit articles were confiscated. The control occurred with permission from the Court of First Instance.

 

  Liance Law Firm took legal steps against the counterfeit market vendors in St. Maarten on behalf of Curaçao-based Disosa Brand Protection Services. Disosa acts globally on behalf of many trademark owners.

 

  It is the second time this year Liance Law Firm has seized a large number of counterfeit articles of the brands Louis Vuitton and Gucci in Philipsburg. It also did so at the marketplace behind the Courthouse in June, also in cooperation with Ramazan bailiff’s office in Curaçao and with permission from the Court of First Instance in St. Maarten.

 

  Liance Law took legal steps against nine market vendors in May on behalf of Disosa Brand Protection Services Ltd. In the case in June it acted on behalf of trademark holders Chanel SA and LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE in France, Puma AG in Germany and Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH, among others.

 

  Under these trademark holders fall a large number of top brands, including Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Puma, Rolex, Hublot, Tag Heuer, Breitling and Victorinox.

 

  The counterfeit articles, among them handbags and wallets of the brand Louis Vuitton, were on sale at the marketplace behind the Courthouse on Back Street. The products, which were imported in St. Maarten this year or earlier, were sold by persons with vendors’ licences for “tourist articles” from the Ministry of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunications (TEATT).