Rubie’s representatives alerted Trading Standards to the selling of counterfeit superhero costumes on eBay.
Mockup depicts genuine Rubie’s costumes on people outside the court. (Image credit: Deeside.com)
Rogue trader Ashley Colin Turner was fined nearly £11,000 after he was caught selling counterfeit superhero costumes.
Early last year Flintshire County Council Trading Standards Service were contacted by representatives of Rubies Masquerade to say that they had found a supplier of counterfeit super hero costumes on Ebay. A test purchase was made and confirmed to be counterfeit by a representative of Warner Brothers.
Checks were made and the supplier identified as Cestrian Sports, trading from Rowleys Drive in Shotton.
In September last year a search was carried out at Mr Turner’s home address and the address in Shotton. All 250 items seized were found to be counterfeit with a street value of £7,236.22.
Flintshire County Council Trading Standards took Mr Turner to court where he pleaded guilty to seven charges of supplying and possessing counterfeit goods under the Trade Marks Act 1994.
The court accepted that Mr Turner was a person of previous good character who had set up a successful business and had failed to understand the significance of registered trademarks.
Mr Turner was fined £1,125 and ordered to pay investigation costs of £2,211 and compensation of £7,236.22 to Rubies, he was also ordered to pay a surcharge of £200 making a total of £10,772.22.
Mike O’Connell, global head of anti-piracy at Rubie’s, commented: “This is another fantastic result for the team at Rubie’s in our fight against counterfeit products and those who sell them. We would like to express our thanks to all of the officers at Flintshire Trading Standards for their support and assistance from the outset of this operation. Successful prosecutions such as this, demonstrate how rogue traders are being combatted as a result of close collaboration between Rubie’s and law enforcement. Together we are fighting back against the persistent threat of counterfeit costumes and toys. Our global team works extensively on detecting and removing counterfeit products, across all trading platforms and in store.”
