In a tough approach to anti-counterfeiting, Salvatore Ferragamo Group, in recent months, has discovered and blocked 345 websites, recovered 91 domains using the Ferragamo name, and also won a case against a high-end hotel in China that was selling counterfeit products.

 

The Italian luxury goods company, based in Florence, says that the Internet, as a new retail channel, has become a target for traffickers of counterfeit goods, and it is the central focus of recent lawsuits filed by Salvatore Ferragamo. Historically it is one of the brands most affected by this type of crime.

 

Anyone who now arrives at one of the 91 fake domains it has recovered is automatically taken to a legitimate web page owned by the company, which informs visitors of the hoax and redirects them to authorised sales channels. In many cases, the company has also had the pirates’ Paypal accounts blocked.

 

Ferragamo is also monitoring 33 e-commerce platforms and claims to have had 79% of auctions selling counterfeit goods removed, with the seizure and removal from the market of counterfeit merchandise worth over $3m [equivalent to $15m if they had been original products].

 

LAWSUITS, DAMAGES & CHINA

In the New York Southern District Court, Ferragamo also filed a civil lawsuit against 15 defendants holding a total of 95 domain names that infringed upon its trademark and sold counterfeit goods. The company was awarded damages of over $4m.

 

“We have also recently begun taking action in China, where we have already won a civil case against a high-end hotel whose store sold counterfeit products. Furthermore, we were able to have more than 15,000 counterfeit products seized and destroyed, and we have won 10 criminal cases,” notes Ferruccio Ferragamo, Chairman of the Salvatore Ferragamo Group. “We will continue to wage war against counterfeiting in 2014, with the same deep commitment and determination, intensifying controls and strengthening measures, even at customs authorities.”