Fake Louis Vuittons face the possibility of extinction as the International Trade Commission rule in favor of the company in case the label filed against a group of Chinese and U.S companies.
The more well-known and sort after a brand is, the more are its chances of having fake replicas of their products in the market. So is the same with the stylish Louis Vuitton - a French fashion house known for its leather goods, including shoes, jewellery, watches, accessories, sunglasses, books and bags.
Yesterday, the US International Trade Commission ruled in favor of the high-end luxury label in a trade case against a "large-scale international counterfeiting and infringing enterprise". The company was guilty of producing replicas of the LV label's products and selling them, thus, making profits using the labels creditability.
Allegedly, husband and wife, Jianyong Zheng and Alice Bei Wang ran an enterprise that sold fake Louis Vuitton hand bags. The couple were said to be based in California but ran companies all over the globe. Products were however manufactured in China owing to the availability of resources there. Their company's names were T&T Handbag Industrial Co. Ltd and Sanjio lether Co. Ltd in China, Trendy Creations in Chatsworth, California and Meada Corp. and Pacpro In c in El Monte in California. House of Bags in Los Angeles and The Inspired Bagger in Dallas, Texas were two other companies involved in the law suit as they were charged guilty of buying fake Louis Vuitton bags from the couple.
Global Intellectual property director of the label, Valerie Sonnier told WWD, "The chief administrative law judge recognizes the importance of protecting intellectual property and took the welcome step of ensuring that its orders include all merchandise that infringes on our Toile Monogram Marks, and not just products of the respondents in this case."
The investigation lasted 15 months and even though the ruling is out, a remedy is yet to be announced. The company hopes for a cease and an order that the fake products do not make it in to the country. Apart from ruling in favour of the brand, the ITC has also added protection from counterfeiting by the U.S. government.
