PM Keeps Pressure on Importers of Counterfeits

Source from:  tr.itsmyiq.com Apr 10, 2008 04/11/2008

Philip Morris USA said yesterday that it had filed two lawsuits in the U.S. federal court aimed at stopping the importation, distribution, and sale of counterfeit cigarettes, and the unauthorized use of its trademarks. PM USA said that the suits, filed in Los Angeles, California, had arisen from two seizures by the U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection at the Port of Los Angeles: one of 47,378 cartons of counterfeit Marlboro cigarettes, with a date of entry into the port of January 8, 2008, and another of 28,260 cartons of counterfeit Marlboro and Marlboro Lights cigarettes, with a date of entry into the port of December 20, 2007. Vice president, compliance and brand integrity for Altria Client Services, Charlie Whitaker, described the lawsuits as the latest in a series of actions that demonstrated PM USA's resolve to protect the company's trademarks. During the past four years, PM USA has filed 30 other cases against counterfeit importers in federal courts in California, Florida, New York and Texas. Enditem