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Three foreign men have been arrested on suspicion of violating the trademark law after they illegally sold New Zealand rugby merchandise, police said Wednesday.
According to police, the three men, led by a 43-year-old Israeli, sold All Blacks scarves outside Ajinomoto Stadium in Tokyo on Oct 6, Fuji TV reported. The three suspects were not authorized to sell any Rugby World Cup merchandise, police said.
The men sold 94 items, which were made in China, to rugby fans at various venues during the tournament. Police said they have denied the allegation, saying that they didn’t know selling the scarves was against Japanese law.
© Japan Today
17 Comments
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miss_oikawa
Thank heavens these dastardly criminals have been arrested. I will sleep so much more soundly tonight knowing these vicious thugs have been taken off the street.
Not.
mrbaberunee
And all the Japanese doing same, no arrests made?
geronimo2006
It's not like any of that so called real stuff is made in NZ.
Marshall Saints
I wonder....do the purchasers actually care?
sir_bentley28
I must've read this wrong. This made news because they were selling some scarves that people were delighted to buy and didn't give a rats if it were fake and they didn't know it was against the law to sell scarves outside a stadium? Come on now! If it were written in an easily viewable spot "NO SELLING OF MERCHANDISE WITHIN THE PREMISES OF THIS STADIUM", that would make sense, but I feel like they really didn't know.
miss_oikawa
You said it best! These criminals armed with deadly fake scarves are exactly where they belong! Japan is 96% safer with these dangerous, dastardly, yet daring criminals are off its streets!
WA4TKG
So, how long can you stand out on the street selling whatever, in your own countries and not get stopped by da' Man?
Mr Kipling
I saw several groups running the gauntlet outside the stadiums... they had look outs and put their scarves etc away when the police or organisers came by. These were maybe a little slow?
Jalapeno
Why are so many of you defending this people? Yes, they are not criminals in the same way as a serial killer, but it's still copyright infringement. They perfectly well knew what they were doing was illegal.
How would you like it if you copyrighted something, and someone else profits off of your idea?
commanteer
Because trademark infringement has always been a civil issue, not a criminal issue. I hate the idea that the police and criminal system are using our taxes to criminalize a civil case for private companies.
juminRhee
It's fan merchandise...like fan fic. Is fan fic illegal?
juminRhee
"Authorised to sell"
Sounds like a cartel. If I buy clocks from a company (wholesaler) and sell them myself (retailer), isn't that just called capitalism?
nedotjp
Probably would have been better going with the new trending defense; " I don't recall the incident "
kurisupisu
Good ol’ keystones keeping Japan safe from foreign devils!
lostrune2
Though in Japan, the law makes it a criminal issue
Change the law