Trap 2016 review jan 2017

2016 Review

What is TRAP?

Protecting Intellectual Property RightsOur mission is simple: to protect intellectual property rights with direct action.

Trademark and Rights holders Against Piracy (TRAP) is a worldwide collective of rights holders and publishers working with the biggest names in music, film, TV, art and sport. Through lobbying and direct action, TRAP protects the public from purchasing counterfeit products whilst enabling musicians, artists, actors and athletes to provide their fans with official merchandise.

Liaising with police and governmental bodies, TRAP maintain the services of global investigators and security consultants, a combination that has proven a continual success in prosecuting those infringing upon our rights in physical retail and online.

Members:

www.trapworldwide.org


2016 Summary:

TRAP has grown in size and output in 2016 with new members (Warner Music, Ecell), bigger and further actions in the UK, government recognition alongside an expansion of operations to the rest of Europe and beginning ground breaking legal cases.

Employing IP lawyers Hamlins, global investigators and security consultants Surelock, online experts as well as many others, TRAP is making a real impact in the education of bootleg product in the UK and abroad.

TRAP members and the artists they represent have worked over many years to establish official merchandise. Bootleg product not only takes away important revenue, but also creative control. Often unethical manufacturing and money laundering is commonplace amongst those producing bootleg product.

The headline stats only partly tell the growth and success TRAP has had in 2016: • £8,500,000 approximate value of product removed from the market.• 12 convictions resulting in prison time.• Published in Government IP Report.• Growth into Europe to combat bootleg.


September 2016 – Government IP Report

The work of TRAP has been included in the Intellectual Property Office’s IP Crime report 2015-2016.

This is the most important IP report prepared by the government and it credits the work carried out by TRAP as well as giving recognition to the group which is important in building dialogue with law makers.

Full report available here (pages 34-36) -https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/557539/ip-crime-report-2015-16.pdf

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/557539/ip-crime-report-2015-16.pdf


2016 Online Actions:

Working on Amazon, eBay, Facebook, Redbubble, Etsy, Allegro, Rautken, Zazzle and others.

• 500,000+ direct infringements removed.• 7,500 seller accounts permanently suspended.• Over £5,000,000 worth of bootleg product removed.

TRAP Online Process:

TRAP reports infringements worldwide.Auction sites are monitored 7 days a week.TRAP receives reports of infringements from official stockists whose businesses are under threat from bootleg product.TRAP maintains a good working relationship with all marketplaces.TRAP works with online sellers offering advice and guidance.TRAP retains international legal counsel ensuring good ethical practices.


2016 Physical Actions:

Investigated and operated in high streets, live events and industrial complexes around the country.• 250,000+ products confiscated from the market.• Approximately street value equated to £3,500,000. • Operations carried out across the UK.• 12 investigations that led to jail time for offenders. • In the majority of cases not only the bootleg product is seized, but computers, files

and other assets are taken as evidence. Often money laundering and other illegal activities are found beyond merchandise bootlegging.

TRAP Physical Process:

TRAP retains the services of global investigators and security consultants - Surelock -leading experts in brand protection and intellectual property right investigations. Along with local authorities and Trading Standards, TRAP is responsible for assisting in the seizure of counterfeit goods. As a result, offenders have been convicted and received prison sentences.


Example of Notable Cases


Operation Juniper, Bradford, March 2016

Four arrested in Bradford raid

After 2 years of complicated negotiations with West Yorkshire Joint Trading Standards Service, West Yorkshire Police and HMRC, months of dedicated investigations, surveillance and test purchases, a raid took place in Bradford, West Yorkshire on Thursday 10th March 2016.

Several addresses were raided uncovering a large print factory which was printing counterfeit t-shirts, caps, mugs and hooded tops on a massive scale. (so far trading standards have identified over £300,000 worth of goods). Also found and seized were large amounts of prepared vinyl transfers bearing trademarks of bands including Arctic Monkeys, Kiss, Olly Murs, 1D, JLS, Motorhead, Guns n Roses, Elvis, Justin Bieber and many more. Trading standards seized 6 heat presses, 4 vinyl cutters, 3 desk top computers, 5 laptops, 11 mobile phones and 1,000s of blank t-shirts, caps, hooded tops and mugs along with £1,700 in cash.

A number of high end cars including a Rolls Royce, a Bentley, an Audi RS4, a Nissan GTR, an Aston Martin DB9 and a BMW X5 were found alongside paperwork showing all were purchased with cash. These cars will be added to any proceeds of crime (POCA) claim.

This was a fantastic result for TRAP and Surelock. We will now diligently work with the authorities putting together the necessary evidence to gain another successful prosecution.


Trading Standard confiscating bootleg product and evidence

Screens used to create bootleg product The owners’ cars included Bentley’s and Aston Martin’s which were recovered as proceeds of crime.

Operation Juniper, Bradford, March 2016


8 Months in Prison for Selling Fake Clothes, March 2016

Another successful prosecution followed a covert operation by TRAP partners Surelock to identify websites by making test purchases of counterfeit merchandise, then working with Central Bedfordshire Trading Standards to identify the offender and raid the premises. All printing equipment, four computers, presses, blanks and paperwork were seized. The main counterfeits being sold were 1D, Kiss, Nirvana, Motorhead, The Beatles, Rolling Stones and Stone Roses.

Nilupul Hettiarachchige, made more than £53,000 from selling counterfeit clothes on Amazon and eBay and was given an eight-month jail sentence.

Hettiarachchige’s operation ran from November 2012 until October 2014 before the council’s team raided his house and seized items of clothing, printing equipment and computers.Executive Member for Community Services Cllr Brian Spurr said: “This is another superb result for our Trading Standards team who work tirelessly to catch people like this. While there may be a temptation in making some quick cash by making and selling counterfeit goods it is against the law and as this case has proven, you could face time in prison for your criminal activities.”

The issue of forfeiture of computer and printing equipment, along with prosecution costs, will be decided in August when there will be a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing.The council will be seeking to obtain all of the proceeds made from Hettiarachchige’s illegal activity.


Court Orders Counterfeit Seller from Cornwall to Pay £4000 Costs, April 2016

This successful prosecution followed a covert operation by Surelock, working on behalf of TRAP (Trade Mark and Rights Holders Against Piracy) identifying eBay sites and making test purchases of our clients’ counterfeit merchandise, then working with Cornwall Trading Standards to identify the offender and raid the premises.

David Scott trading as Bubble And Bling attended Bodmin Magistrates Court in the matter relating to the sale of counterfeit clothing via eBay.

Surelock brought the matter to the attention of Cornwall Trading Standards in August 2014 after carrying out a test purchase of a “One Direction” varsity jacket via eBay.

In October 2014, a warrant was executed at a private address in Cornwall following information kindly supplied by eBay’s Global Asset Protection Officer showing that Bubble And Bling’s trading activities, over a two year period, generated a turnover of around £120,000 and that £20,000 related to “One Direction” items alone.

On executing the warrant, further trade mark and copyright protected items were found and there were a small number of additional clothing items already labelled up and ready to be sent to customers.

The investigation led to another trader in Cornwall applying the images to vinyl material to be heat pressed on to clothing at a later date by Mr Scott. This other trader has received a formal caution for his part in this activity. Furthermore, a Home Authority referral was carried out in respect of a business outside of Cornwall supplying Disney copyright protected images to traders in Cornwall without a licence to do so.

Trading via eBay meant Mr Scott had a worldwide customer base and had sold offending items as far reaching as Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore.

As a result of this investigation, Mr Scott received a three year conditional discharge for operating a fraudulent business and for trade mark offences. He was ordered to pay £4000 in costs and a £15 Victim Surcharge. The courts imposed a minimum penalty on account of his early guilty plea and mitigating factors.

All offending items seized have been granted forfeiture and will be destroyed.


Police making the arrest

Screens used for printing

Bootleg Justin Bieber product

Product seized

Cornwall Bootleg


Successful prosecution after 1600 bootleg shirts sold, May 2016

This successful prosecution followed a covert operation by Surelock, working on behalf of TRAP. Surelock identified eBay sites, made test purchases of our merchandise, then worked in association with South Gloucestershire Trading Standards to identify the offenders and raid the premises.

A Wickwar man has been given a three-month curfew and has been ordered to repay nearly £25,000 after being found guilty of selling hundreds of counterfeit music t-shirts online.Andrew Minter, 55, sold over 1,600 shirts emblazoned with the logos of popular bands including Motorhead, The Ramones and Blur.

Minter made £17,000 over four years of trading the fake goods on auction site eBay.His activities came to light after a brand investigator discovered him trading online and made several test purchases, all of which turned out to be counterfeit. The investigation was then taken over by South Gloucestershire Council Trading Standards.

Officers executed a warrant on April 17, 2015 at Minter’s home address in Wickwar and also at his business premises on Gloucester Road, Bristol, which resulted in a quantity of business documentation and counterfeit clothing being detained.

Investigations of his eBay and Paypal accounts found he had sold 1,608 fake t-shirts, at between £10 and £12 each for four years to people in Australia, Russia and the USA as well as in the UK.

Minter pleaded guilty at an earlier court hearing to two charges under the Trade Marks Act 1994 and was sentenced at Bristol Crown Court on Thursday (May 5).He was ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work and was given a three month curfew order.

He was also ordered to pay full prosecution costs of £6,299.07 and to repay the benefit made from the crime to the tune of £24,729.72. The amount must be paid within three months or he will serve nine months in prison.

In interview Minter claimed that he had bought the counterfeit t-shirts from an unidentified man who came to his shop in 2011. He said he continued to purchase several more consignments from the man and always paid him in cash.

In court, Judge Martin Picton agreed the t-shirt sales did not constitute a large scale operation, but they did constitute a significant number of items and sales which continued over a four-year period. He also ordered that all counterfeit stock that was seized by Trading Standards be forfeited.

Neil Derrick, senior Fair Trade officer for South Gloucestershire Council Trading Standards, said: “We welcome todays sentence.

“The biggest penalty for Mr Minter is that he has to pay back nearly £25,000 or face imprisonment.

“Traders must be very careful about buying branded stock from unidentified sellers for cash, as counterfeiting is big business, but it is also a crime.”


Camden Raids, 2016

More Camden raids successfulOn Thursday 16 June 2016, TRAP partner Surelock, together with numerous other members of the Anti-Counterfeiting Group assisted officers from Camden Trading Standards to carry out enforcements on a number of retail outlets in Camden High Street which were selling counterfeit merchandise. Two van loads of counterfeit goods were seized. This was a multi-agency intelligence led operation focusing on the sale of counterfeit goods in the area.

September, 2016Camden raided again!During September, Surelock, acting on behalf of TRAP and other clients, assisted the hardworking and diligent officers of Camden Trading Standards and Anti Counterfeit Group by carrying out enforcements on: a major screen print factory / warehouse, seven retail stores, two large stalls dedicated to music merchandise and a street market in Camden High Street area, cleaning them all of counterfeit goods.

December 2016As part of the Westminster Zero Tolerance campaign before Christmas, TRAP and partner Surelock, along with Westminster Trading Standards, carried out a number of raids in central London.

Several locations were raided in and around Shaftesbury Avenue, Oxford Street, Leicester Square and Queensway; resulting in TRAP and Surelock seizing thousands of counterfeit music merchandise such as t-shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts, mobile phone covers and calendars.


Camden Staples Market Some bootleg product on display

Bootleg product seized in store Bootleg product being taken away

Camden Raids, 2016


2016 Other Bootleg Examples:

Working with police at London raids.


Police in Manchester forcing entry to bootleggers in 'Fake City'


2016 Physical Examples:

Bootleg product prepared for destruction in London raids


Calendars seized at London Raid


Police Vans at Wellesbourne Market Warwickshire copy


TRAP International:

In 2016 TRAP has expanded its boundaries from working solely in the UK to legal action in Europe and the USA.

TRAP has used existing contacts and resources to expand operation online with sites such as ebay.com and amazon.de but also employed specialists such as Probandi who work in 8 countries across Eastern Europe, especially at borders working with customs officers. This effort not only stops the sale of bootleg product in these countries, but stops the flow of product across Europe into more established markets.

This action has resulted in the removal of 1000’s of bootleg product.

There is also bigger actions being organised in 2017.


Budapest Raids, June 2016


TRAP 2017:

TRAP will continue its work against merchandise piracy and bootleg product to protect its members and artists’ rights by:

• Expanding membership from music and into more entertainment properties.• Working with government bodies to ensure IP rights are protected and patrolled.• Increasing operations in the UK and abroad.• Working across new forms which are historically troublesome.

More Information:


http://www.trapworldwide.org/

Trap 2016 review jan 2017

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