Fake BlackBerrys, Dr Dre’s seized in US-China raids, NBC News

July 31, 2013

HANDOUT / Reuters

A seized counterfeit pair of Beats headphones are pictured in this handout photo courtesy of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection taken in Los Angeles and received by Reuters July 31, 2013. The United States and China joined forces for their first combined operation cracking down on counterfeited goods, seizing more than 243,000 fake electronics products including popular products made by Apple, Samsung, Dr Dre and Blackberry.

The United States and China have joined forces in a combined operation to crack down on counterfeit goods, seizing more than 243,000 fake electronics products, including popular consumer items made by Apple, Samsung, Dr Dre and Blackberry. U.S. Customs and Border Protection said the month-long operation was the biggest bilateral customs enforcement effort ever conducted by the United States. It focused on seizures of goods in ports as they were exported from China or imported into the United States.

While the operation resulted in only one arrest, U.S. officials said they see it as a sign that the Beijing government is finally acting on their complaints of Chinese theft of intellectual property. The two countries agreed in recent high-level talks that they would work together to try to stem the large quantities of fake goods flowing between China and the United States.
“The theft of intellectual property is a global problem and cross-border efforts are needed to fight it,” said Thomas Winkowski, the acting commissioner of Customs and Border Protection. “Robust enforcement of intellectual property rights allows innovators and creators – whether in a small start-up or an international corporation – to profit from their efforts and gives consumers confidence in the reputations of the products they buy.”