Anne Arundel County police have arrested a New York man, and charges are also pending against the owners of two sporting goods stores, after a crackdown on counterfeit merchandise last month, officials said yesterday.
Guangding Yu, 53, has been charged with five counts of selling counterfeit digital video discs, sunglasses and designer handbags valued at about $290,000, police said. Yu, a resident of Fresh Meadows, N.Y., had opened the Brumwells Flea Market in the 3900 block of Mountain Road in Pasadena. His trial is set for September.
His arrest last month, made with the assistance of private investigators working for Oakley sunglasses and a representative from the Motion Picture Association of America, led police to expand their search across the county.
A private investigator working for the National Football League led officers to Charm City Sports in Pasadena on June 19 and the All Jerseys Store in Glen Burnie on June 27, where police seized $30,000 in merchandise, mostly phony jerseys from professional football and baseball teams, many of them legitimately autographed, police and store owners said.
A spokesman for the NFL would not confirm any league involvement in the inquiry, nor would police, but Charm City Sports co-owner Chris Evans said a Bowie-based investigator came to his store and helped police identify items he said were counterfeit.
Investigator Richard Logue, a former Prince George's police officer who specializes in intellectual property matters, did not return calls seeking comment.
"The NFL and many sports leagues work with private investigators and law enforcement to confiscate counterfeit merchandise," said Dan Masonson, spokesman for the NFL. "Counterfeiting is an illegal activity that we take very seriously. The victims are the fans first and foremost, and the retailers who sell the merchandise. The fans are entitled to a superior product used by the NFL and NFL teams."
The NFL has a lucrative licensing deal with Reebok, which makes jerseys and other apparel for all of its 32 teams. The sporting goods companies pay a hefty fee to sell the products, said Marty Brochstein, executive editor of the Licensing Letter, a twice-monthly industry newsletter.
"That's reason enough for the crackdown. Any trademark owner has to enforce its trademarks, otherwise they can lose the right to them," he said. "They have to protect their economic rights."
