Rising worries of counterfeit Lego products in the Philippines
The Philippines has recently published some warnings about the counterfeiting of Lego products within this country’s jurisdiction. Response decisively, this country has organized and authorized raid operations on the facilities producing infringing Lego products.
The results from the sudden raid operations show that the Lego toys are one of the primarily counterfeited products during this period in the Philippines. Accordingly, IPOPHL has published publicly a statement warning the public about such counterfeiting situation in the nation.
The report shows that in July 2021, the National Bureau of Investigation’s IP Rights Division (NBI-IPRD) confiscated 2,000 cartons of knockoff Lego goods valued at around P6.2 million (US$108,000). The legos were found to be violating the IP rights of the company Lego A/S, specifically industrial designs registered and protected according to the IP Law. Not just designs and graphics but the infringer also uses a similar trademark to Lego A/S in order to misdirect the consumers, making them mistaken about the nature of such products.
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IP Rights Enforcement Office officer-in-charge Ann N. Edillon of IPOPHL stated: “With the sizable haul of the NBI-IPRD, we urge the public to take heightened caution in purchasing Lego products and make sure that they transact with only legitimate Lego stores and verified accounts on e-commerce platforms.”
According to Edillon, the reason behind the existence and rise of counterfeiting products is the consumers themselves. In today’s society, there are a large number of consumers who still prefer cheap, fake goods to real, authentic products made by their IP owners due to the cheap costs of those goods available.
However, besides the cheap price, consumers should focus more closely on other important factors such as the quality of the product or the durability of such goods when being used in real-life conditions. What are cheap products for if they can be damaged easily.
On this matter, the IPOPHL has realized and therefore, provides warnings to the community of the risks of purchasing, owning, and using illegal goods. This is a small step but a continuous one in the fight against counterfeiting and its impact.
On the matter of Lego counterfeit products, Franklin Galman, the Lego Group’s APAC-based corporate legal counsel for intellectual property rights stated: “We place a high priority on customer safety and only use the best materials in the construction of Lego goods. We want to make sure that the parents and kids who purchase our toys receive a product of the highest caliber that satisfies the toughest safety requirements.”
According to Galman, the fake Lego products being circumvented on the market can’t be guaranteed to their quality. Therefore, those products are extremely dangerous to kids – the main group of consumers who will be using and playing with Legos constantly.
Consequently, Galman and his company have contacted the authority, and provide information on the fake Lego production and manufacturing sites to put a stop to the violation: “We always respect and welcome fair competition, but when someone disregards our IP rights and betrays our customers’ trust, we take the necessary steps to protect both our brand and our customers.”
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– You can check FEE OF TRADEMARK IN Philippines HERE.
– You could visit here to see Procedure of Philippines Trademark Registration.
– You could visit here to check the required documents for filing trademark in Philippines.
– Other questions of trademark in Philippines here.
– You could also check the trademark fees in ASEAN countries here. All with affordable fees.
– You could also check the trademark fees in ASIA here. All with affordable fees.
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