07/02/2010

News / CBP Seizes Nearly 6,000 Counterfeit Video Games

Otay Mesa, Calif. — U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Otay Mesa, Calif. cargo export facility seized almost 6,000 counterfeit handheld “Tetris” video games last week.

On Thursday, June 24, CBP officers processing trucks exporting goods out of the United States into Mexico pulled aside two shipments labeled as “hand-held brick games.” Officers offloaded the cargo and presented a sample of the toys to a CBP import specialist for examination.

The import specialist quickly determined that the games violated the Tetris copyright. The games were of generally poor quality and lacked any licensing information, despite using the same individual brick shapes and the same rotating lateral and downward movements of the playing pieces as the copyrighted Tetris game.

CBP seized all of the games: two shipments each with 81 boxes containing 2,916 games. The total domestic value for all 5,832 games is $17,496, and the manufacturer’s suggested retail price is $69,925.

An important part of the CBP mission remains the facilitation of legitimate trade. In addition to its own regulations, CBP enforces more than 400 laws on behalf of more than 40 other U.S. government agencies. A large number of these import restrictions and requirements are designed to protect the American people from dangerous and illegal goods, and protect the U.S. economy, which is based on the premises of fair trade.

CBP has designated intellectual property rights enforcement as a priority trade issue. The strategic approach to intellectual property rights enforcement is multi-layered and includes seizing fake goods at our borders, pushing the border outward through audits of infringing importers and cooperation with our international trading partners, and partnering with industry and other government agencies to enhance these efforts.

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/news_releases/local/07022010_5.xml

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