IP News

Simultaneous raids in QC, Manila yield fake PlayStation software
September 20, 2007

The long arm of the law caught up with "big-time" infringers once more. This time, the infringers' stock of counterfeit products was almost scraped to the bottom. 

An estimated P100 million worth of counterfeit Sony PlayStation game software were confiscated in simultaneous raids of four facilities in Quezon City and Manila last October 12, 2004. On the strength of search warrants issued by a Manila court, the onslaught was spearheaded by four teams from the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) who swooped down on two warehouses in Harvard and Cambridge Streets in Cubao, Quezon City, a store inside Robinson's Place and a two-storey commercial stall in Tutuban Center, Manila. 

Hardest hit is a certain Simon Chan, whose storage facilities in Cubao and a store at Robinson's place Manila, known as CD Square Enterprises, yielded several thousands of counterfeit PlayStation products during the raid. 

Chan and his wife, one Fu Lin Gutierrez, are operating numerous stores situated in major malls around the country, mostly in Metro Manila. Most of these stores, which sold fake PlayStation games, were already raided in the past. At present, Chan and Gutierrez are facing a number of criminal cases pending with different courts within Metro Manila, and in Cebu City.

Meanwhile, a certain Ricky Hu was identified as the owner of Dynamite Game Studio, a two-storey stall in Tutuban Center, where numerous fake PlayStation products were likewise seized. 

Prior to the raids, the law firm of Bengzon Negre Untalan Intellectual Property Attorneys (BNU) with the assistance of IP Manila, brought to the attention of the PNP-CIDG the infringing activities of Chan and Hu. This prompted the PNP-CIDG to conduct further surveillance of the four establishments. 

Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. (SCEI), the owner of copyright and trademarks pertaining to the PlayStation products, had already filed formal criminal charges for trademark infringement, unfair competition and copyright infringement against Chan and Hu. The complaints were filed by SCEI's counsel, BNU, with the Department of Justice's Task Force on Anti-Intellectual Property Piracy. 

Incidentally, the Optical Media Board (OMB), led by Chairman Eduardo Manzano, accompanied the PNP-CIDG in the enforcement actions. For its part, OMB netted a sizeable number of various pirated video, music and software in CD format.

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