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3 August 2016Trademarks

Brazilian police seize thousands of Olympic counterfeits

Brazilian police have seized swathes of counterfeit Olympic merchandise, just days before the 2016 Games start in Rio de Janeiro.

According to reports, including by Reuters, Brazilian police have, in the last two days, seized counterfeit branded merchandise and raided market stands, tourist markets, and stalls on the famous Copacabana and Ipanema beaches.

More than 2,300 counterfeits including t-shirts, beach towels and pens were seized. The opening ceremony kicks off on Friday, August 5, and the competition runs until August 21.

Valeria Aragão, a police inspector in charge of the raids, said: “These are opportunists … People want to take advantage of an event like this, whether they know it's illegal or not.”

Last month, WIPR reported that the US Olympic Committee had reportedly resorted to “legal bullying” to try and stop non official sponsors of the Games from using Olympic-related Twitter hashtags.

The official sponsors of the Games include Coca-Cola, Visa, Samsung, McDonald's, GE and Procter & Gamble.

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25 July 2016   The US Olympic Committee has reportedly resorted to “legal bullying” tactics to try and stop non official sponsors of the Games from using Olympic-related Twitter hashtags.
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