JOC Staff | Dec 13, 2012 3:57PM EST
Customs seized 7,800 counterfeit Audemars Piguet watches.The Import Specialist Enforcement Team at U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Laredo, Texas, port of entry recently seized an $83 million commercial shipment of 7,800 counterfeit watches that infringed on an Audemars Piguet trademark.
The shipment of watches arrived via express consignment truck at the World Trade Bridge and was selected by a Customs import specialist for secondary examination, where a possible infringement was discovered. After legal review at Customs’ intellectual property rights branch, and confirmation from Audemars Piguet that the trademark was unauthorized, Customs seized the watches.
It is the largest seizure by Customs in the port’s history, said Sidney Aki, Laredo’s Customs port director.