>> Infomercial firm fined, fake products seized
Viet An Trade Joint-stock Company, a TV shopping firm, was recently found trading copycat products under the same brand name as another trader.
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| The HCM City Market Monitoring Agency checking Viet An Trade JSC\'s fake products |
The Ho Chi Minh City Market Monitoring Agency stormed the company’s headquarters on Nguyen Van Thu Street, District 1, on June 30 and discovered numerous items bearing the ‘As Seen on TV’ brand registered by their Vietnamese competitor Best Buy.
The market management force seized 126 Bustle Express-branded fruit cutters which were copies of the Bullet Express Trio brand, 186 fake Flavor Ware-branded autoclaves, 138 fake Magic Bullet liquidizers and other counterfeit products.
Saigon Times Daily cited Le Lan, Viet An Trade JSC trade officer who claimed the merchandise branded with the ‘As Seen on TV’ label belonged to the first shipment of goods imported from China nearly a week ago, and none had been sold to consumers.
The products were imported via official channels, with all legitimate customs papers, she said.
“We didn’t know that the products had been registered with a trademarked slogan in Vietnam when we imported the goods. We only learned of the infringement after the inspection,” she said.
The company representative added that her company was now only selling other products, including food items and household appliances, via Binh Duong Television’s BTV3 channel.
In March, market monitors inspected Happy Shopping headquartered in Go Vap District, and found the company selling fake and smuggled products on shopping TV channels.
The city government imposed a fine of over VND450 million (USD21,844) on the company and confiscated all the products.
The Law on Consumer Rights Protection took effect July 1.
