Police confiscate fake delux Louis Vuitton items

JAKARTA (JP): City police have confiscated over 250 items illegally bearing the logo of French luxury travel goods manufacturer Louis Vuitton, a lawyer of Dermawan & Co Law firm said.

P.D.D. Dermawan said on Thursday counterfeit handbags, travel bags, luggage and wallets were seized at shopping centers in Mangga Dua, Pasar Pagi, Melawai Plaza, Pasar Baru and Jatinegara during raids launched between June 18 and 25.

"Some of the outlets managed to confuse consumers into believing that the counterfeits were genuine Louis Vuitton products by pricing the fake products a little bit less than the price of genuine items," Dermawan said in a statement.

He said that the raids, conducted by 25 police officers, were mainly intended to help protect Louis Vuitton's brand name and local customers.

The drive is in line with the company's determination to aggressively stop counterfeiting activities worldwide, he said.

"With high demand from locals as well as tourists, Indonesia has regrettably become a very active market for counterfeit Louis Vuitton products," Dermawan said.

"Poor and medium quality counterfeit items can be found at small shops, markets and hawker stalls, while expensive counterfeit products are available at quality shopping centers in big cities," he said.

He said that poor quality products were believed to be manufactured locally and the expensive ones were imported from abroad, most reportedly coming from South Korea.

Dermawan also said that police were questioning counterfeiters. Their dossiers were expected to be handed over to the Prosecutor's Office soon for prosecution, he said.

"Louis Vuitton is very committed to stopping all counterfeiting activities in Indonesia. There are plans to pursue tougher measures and organize more frequent raids as well," he said.

Under Indonesia's trademark laws, any person found guilty of counterfeiting faces a maximum penalty of seven years in jail and a Rp 100 million ($40,816) fine. (hhr)