Customs and Border Protection officials recently seized 30,000 black smart phones and phone accessories which include charging cables, batteries, phone holders, among others, worth nearly $1 million at the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport in Texas.

Officials noted that the confiscation of such items can hold as evidence for intellectual property rights violations that can be filed against the shippers of the counterfeit items.

Dallas CBP port director Cleatus Hunt noted that “this seizure protects the trademark holder and its employees while denying profits to counterfeiters”.

The items came from China and were on their way to Louisiana when customs agents were able to intercept them. They were first made aware of the counterfeit items when upon inspection of the mobile phones and phone accessories they saw, “Underwriters Laboratory” marked on the batteries and the charging cables.

If you have an intellectual property dispute with another party and you want to take them to court for it, our attorneys at Gagnon, Peacock, & Vereeke, P.C. in the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas are ready, willing, and able to take you on as clients. Call our offices today at (214) 317-4448.

A federal court ruling in Australia on April 7 said that internet service providers must provide the film company that made the Dallas Buyers Club information of those who illegally downloaded the film, according to Lawyers Weekly.

Although this marks a large change in how copyright cases have been handled in the past, Mark Vincent from Shelton IP said it would be impractical for film studios to file a lawsuit against every individual who downloaded an illegal copy of their film. Vincent also said film companies would not gain much from pursuing small-scale downloaders, as the financial gain would be fairly minuscule.

Our attorneys at Gagnon, Peacock & Vereeke, P.C., who operate in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and all over the state of Texas, litigate intellectual property disputes for both plaintiff and defendant. Call our offices today at (214) 824-1414 to speak with a qualified member of our legal team about your situation.