P2.1-M worth of fake Vans shoes seized in Pasay

MANILA, Philippines — Fake Vans rubber shoes worth P2.1 million were confiscated by the authorities in simultaneous raids in Pasay City on Wednesday, officials reported on Thursday. A team composed of members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) seized the counterfeit goods after series of surveillance and test-buys operations. Lawyer Elfren Meneses, head of the NBI’s Intellectual Property Rights Division, said the fake shoes were seized from one sales outlets of Ramaceda Shoe Marketing, R.R. Fernando Footwear, Nikki Want, and Amezing Wang Alok Building on Agtarap Street in Pasay and at the Harrison Shoe Plaza along F.B. Harrison corner Agtarap Streets. A total of 1,179 pairs of counterfeit Vans rubber shoes were confiscated during the raid. He said the PNP and NBI operatives got a search warrant from the court after confirming in surveillances and test buys the evidence gathered by Orion Support Inc. (OSI), a market research firm representing the intellectual property rights of Vans. Meneses said charges of trademark infringement under the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines or Republic Act 8293 were being prepared against the owners of the stores. Vans shoes are produced by the Van Doren Rubber Company, which was established in the US in 1966. - GMANews.TV