Virgin Islanders be careful shopping online; say if those shoes seem like a little too good a deal, because if it’s a fake that violates U.S. trademark laws, federal officials may confiscate it and you’ll be out the cost. This is happening right now.
There is a case right now in Federal District Court; the case of United States of America v. Two Pairs of Nike Air Jordan Sneakers. It is about a pair of fake, you guessed it, Nike Air Jordan sneakers. In August of 2016, a package arrived at the Aubrey C. Ottley Post Office on St. Thomas with a pair of shoes.
According to the Customs and Border Patrol affidavit, the “Two Pairs of Nike Air Jordan Sneakers were submitted to a Nike Jordan Trademark representative for trademark and value verification.” Nike found the shoes to be counterfeit because they lacked the appropriate Nike product codes and had “poor overall quality craftsmanship, poor stitching, excess glue smeared through the seams,” and other details.
The complaint says it violates federal law to knowingly use a counterfeit mark and that those goods are “subject to forfeiture to the U.S. Government.”
So buyer beware. Even if you are willing to have a fake pair of Air Jordans, they might be confiscated on their way in and you will be out your purchase price.
How about tourist beware. .
The questions is “why do we continue to legitimize the sale of this contraband every day in the vendors plaza?” Trademark infringement is a crime, however, we have allocated public space for the legal sale and distribution of trademark infringed items. We all know that real Gucci products are not sold for $50, under a FEMA tarp, and packaged in a reused Pueblo plastic bag.