Fake Jays items seized in new legal fight with counterfeiters As Blue Jays fever swept the country in late September and early October, Toronto police and bylaw enforcement officers shut down illegal merchandise stores and confiscated counterfeit Jays clothing.

Rick Westhead TSN Senior Correspondent Follow|Archive

As Blue Jays fever swept the country in late September and early October, Toronto police and bylaw enforcement officers swept the city’s downtown core, shutting down illegal merchandise stores and confiscating counterfeit Blue Jays clothing.

In all, officers seized 1,238 fake Blue Jays items – including T-shirts, sweaters, photos and flags – two sources told TSN. The seizures and related charges will be announced later this week, Det. Mark Daniels of the Toronto Police Service confirmed to TSN. He declined further comment.

Police have charged at least four people in the case, a source told TSN. Police are scheduled to hold a press conference next week at 52 Division to show media the fake sports goods.

The Jays-related seizures and arrests are the latest reminder of the high-stakes battle being waged between legitimate brands and counterfeiters.

As TSN and CTV’s W5 reported earlier this year in the documentary series Faking It, counterfeiting has become widespread throughout the sports world.

The NHL, alongside Major League Baseball and the NBA, recently filed a massive lawsuit in Chicago against hundreds of defendants who allegedly have conspired to sell counterfeit clothing and jerseys online.

The lawsuit reinforces that most fakes are being produced in China and offers a glimpse into the tactics leagues are using to fight counterfeiting, a battle in which some experts say the counterfeiters seem to continue to enjoy an upper hand.

Toronto lawyer David Lipkus, whose clients include Hockey Canada, says legitimate brands are making strides in seizing cash from the online PayPal accounts of those who are selling fake items online. In some cases, legitimate brands have seized $100,000 or more from online accounts. But counterfeiters are moving their accounts to Western Union and other money transferring companies to avoid the cash seizures.

At the same time, counterfeiters are becoming savvy in dodging law enforcement.

If an online seller wants to advertise a fake Team Canada Sidney Crosby jersey, they simply post a photo of a red No. 87 hockey jersey. Only after a potential customer asks if it’s a knockoff do they receive an assurance it’s a high-quality fake, Lipkus said.

Counterfeiters have also become adept at closing shop and moving to a new location, keeping one step ahead of authorities, he said.

“Based on the number of new files I’m opening, the amount of counterfeiting is not getting smaller,” Lipkus said. “It’s whack-a-mole with both websites and factories in China.”

The lawsuit filed in Chicago, whose defendants include sanjosesharkofficialshop.com, canadienswinterclassicjersey.com and hockeyislandersstore.com, alleges that counterfeiters go to great lengths to conceal the full scope of their operation.

“A significant aspect of NHL Enterprise’s business and resulting revenues has been for many years, and continues to be, the merchandising and licensing of the NHL trademarks. … Retail sales revenue in 2014 of NHL products was in the hundreds of millions of dollars,” the NHL wrote in a court filing.

Counterfeiters selling sports merchandise online are estimated to receive tens of millions of visits per year and generate more than $135 billion in annual online sales, the NHL and other leagues allege.

Besides incorporating the leagues’ trademarks into their Internet addresses, counterfeiters also use unauthorized search optimization tactics and social media spamming so their website listings show up at or near the top of relevant search results, according to the NHL lawsuit.

The defendants allegedly also falsely offer “live 24/7” customer service, illegally use McAfee Internet Security logos and use privacy services to conceal their identity and contact information.

“Counterfeiters like the defendants will often open new domain names under new aliases once they receive notice of a lawsuit,” the NHL alleges. “Counterfeiters also often move website hosting to rogue servers located outside the U.S. once notice of a lawsuit is received.”

Counterfeiters also typically ship products in small quantities via international mail to minimize detection by customs officers.

Lipkus said that in past years, Canada border agents would contact the RCMP when they believed a shipment contained counterfeit goods. Often, the RCMP would not investigate because it was busy with higher-profile cases.

On Jan. 1, the government passed the Combating Counterfeit Products Act, which gave the Canada Border Services Agency the ability to stop shipments on its own. Since then, just three shipments of counterfeit goods have been stopped at the border, Lipkus said.

A CBSA spokesperson did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Foreign brands have struggled for years to try to quash counterfeiting in China and the government there has, in fits and starts, pledged to do better at cracking down. This summer, for instance, the Chinese government announced an operation called Red Shield Net Sword to target online counterfeiters.

A survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in China, published this year with consulting firm Bain & Company, reported 85 per cent of respondents said they believed China’s enforcement of intellectual property rights had improved during the past five years, The New York Times reported.

“Counterfeiting is still very much an issue, but it is not as extreme as it was from 2000 to 2010,” said Scott Kronick, president of Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide China. “One thing that changed the dynamic … was when Chinese companies started counterfeiting Chinese IP. This led to a slew of lawsuits initiated by Chinese companies against other Chinese companies and it began a wave of better enforcement.”