Counterfeit Golf Equipment Supplier Sentenced to Jail

by C&RB Staff (editor@clubandresortbusiness.com)
April 2008
 

The U.S. Golf Manufacturers Anti-Counterfeiting Working Group (the "Group," comprised of Acushnet Company, Callaway Golf, Cleveland Golf, Nike Golf, PING and TaylorMade-adidas Golf Company) reports that the Panyu District Court in China has convicted Tan Jian of selling counterfeit golf clubs. Tan was sentenced to four years and three months in jail and ordered to pay a fine of 80,000 RMB (yuan), which is approximately $16,667 USD. Tan has filed an appeal to the conviction.
 
The defendant, a 23-year-old Chinese native, was arrested in April 2007 for allegedly committing the crime of trademark counterfeiting, after the Group successfully petitioned the local law enforcement agency, the Public Security Bureau, to conduct an investigation of the defendant's business operation.
 
The criminal hearing was conducted in Panyu last October before a thre- judge panel. The Court determined that the sale of counterfeit golf products in this case caused great economic harm and damage to the victimized brand owners, especially in Southern China, where much of the legitimate golf industry is concentrated. Additionally, the large monetary value attached to the seized golf products (about $640,000 USD) established that Tan Jian's counterfeiting constituted a "very serious crime," the court found.
 
The Group was formed to petition governments to enforce their country's laws against counterfeiters of golf equipment products. As a result of the Group's petitioning efforts, Chinese law enforcement authorities have conducted dozens of successful raids of manufacturing, assembly and retail facilities over the past four years. Several business operators have been arrested, and many have now been prosecuted in the Chinese courts.