tonyshawphotography
28 September 2017Trademarks

Man pleads guilty to trafficking $2.5m of fake UGGs

A New York-based man has pleaded guilty to planning to distribute more than $2.5 million of fake UGG boots.

Shi Wei Zheng had planned to sell the boots, which were shipped into Port Newark, New Jersey, but they were intercepted.

The confession was the result of an investigation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, with assistance from Customs and Border Protection.

Zheng pleaded guilty before US District Judge John Vazquez at the US District Court for the District of New Jersey to one count of trafficking in counterfeit goods.

According to a press release, published yesterday, September 27, Zheng received shipping containers between September 2016 and February 2017.

At least three of the containers contained fake boots.

In total, Zheng trafficked more than 15,000 pairs of counterfeit UGGs, with a total estimated retail value of over $2.5 million.

He also paid individuals more than $50,000 in exchange for the delivery of the containers.

Trafficking in counterfeit goods carries a maximum penalty of ten years in prison and a $2 million fine.

Zheng will be sentenced on January 23, 2018.

In April, WIPR reported that Deckers, the company behind the UGG brand, had settled a patent and trade dress dispute with retailer H&M.

The retailer was alleged to have sold boots that infringed UGG’s “Bailey Button” product, a suede boot with buttons placed on the outside.

WIPR also spoke to the former director of brand protection at Deckers about how the company tackles counterfeiting.

Did you enjoy reading this story?  Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories like this sent straight to your inbox

Today’s top stories:

Bristows appoints joint managing partner

Refreshing, amusing and a genericide deterrent: the ‘don’t say Velcro’ video

Jessica Alba seeks to weed out trademark infringement

Gluten-free group takes another bite at Jamie Oliver

Willis hits back at Aon trade secrets allegations

Already registered?

Login to your account

To request a FREE 2-week trial subscription, please signup.
NOTE - this can take up to 48hrs to be approved.

Two Weeks Free Trial

For multi-user price options, or to check if your company has an existing subscription that we can add you to for FREE, please email Adrian Tapping at atapping@newtonmedia.co.uk


More on this story

Patents
25 April 2017   Retailer H&M and footwear designer Deckers have settled a patent and trade dress infringement lawsuit concerning UGG boots.
article
11 April 2018   A jury has awarded the manufacturer of UGG footwear, Deckers Outdoor, over $5 million in a design patent infringement case.