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GOLF NEWS
-JUNE 2008
GOLF NEWS
ARCHIVE>>>JUNE
NEWS INDEX
Fake
Golf Clubs Cause Real Problems
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A
coalition of U.S golf equipment companies has for the
last several years been working to stem the flow of
illegal golf clubs into the country. But seizing illegal
golf clubs at this end could only do so much. In order
to really make a dent, help would be needed at the
source in China. Last month, they finally got that help.
The Chinese authorities jailed Tan Jian for four years
and three months for running a counterfeiting golf club
operation. Heeding the endless pleas of U.S. officials,
Chinese authorities began addressing the crime as an
offense meriting stiff sentences. It's one thing to raid
illegal golf club foundries, another to actually hold
perpetrators accountable.
"This sentence is absolutely significant", said Rob
Duncanson, a Southern California - based attorney who
serves as director of the U.S. Golf Manufacturers
Counterfeit Working Group. He said the punishment is the
most severe to date issued for a Chinese golf club
counterfeiting case. It's a victory, but one that has
come at a steep price. It's hard to put a hard number on
it, but certainly it's in the hundreds of millions of
dollars. It's hard to nail a number down because of so
many factors: loss of sales, damage to reputation, cost
of enforcement. "With such a big distribution chain
around the world, you could probably just throw a dart
at a big number," said Duncanson.
The
U.S. coalition, founded in 2003 is comprised of six golf
equipment manufacturing companies - Acushnet (parent
company of Titleist and Cobra), Callaway, Cleveland,
Nike, Ping and TaylorMade - maintains ties with a Hong
Kong law firm that acts as its legal arm and works in
tandem with Chinese authorities. Duncanson said the
coalition's impact can't easily be calculated, noting
the difficulty in tallying the dollar value or even the
number of golf clubs seized in dozens of raids, mainly
in China and several in Thailand. He says the group
gauges its influence by the number of facilities and
retail stores that had been manufacturing or moving
counterfeit golf clubs but are now shut down. But for
all of the coalitions success, it still struggled to
persuade the Chinese judiciary to take greater action.
Finally, with the arrest and sentencing of Tin Jian, the
court determined that the sale of counterfeit golf clubs
caused "great economic harm and damage" to authentic
brands, many of which manufacture their products in
southern China.
Even with the recent arrest, counterfeiting is, and will
remain, a persistent problem. Lisa Rogan, Acushnet's
trademark manager, concedes that counterfeiting is
getting worse. She cites a soft economy that entices
golfers and counterfeit peddlers "trying to find a deal
and make an extra buck." She says "we'll never stop the
counterfeiting, but we're trying to be a deterrent."
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