Paraguay Seizes $1 Million of Fake Nintendo Products
PALO ALTO, Calif. - Paraguayan customs officials, under urging from video
game giant Nintendo, have seized a $1 million
shipment of counterfeit Nintendo software and joysticks, the second big
bust in a month.
Nintendo officials said Thursday they believe the counterfeit products,
seized July 10 in the port city of Ciudad del Este, were
made in Taiwan and were destined to be distributed throughout Latin
America and other regions.
Nintendo would not identify the Taiwanese company suspected of
manufacturing the fake products, nor would the company
identify who was to receive the shipment.
It was the second big capture of phony Nintendo goods in the past few
weeks, Nintendo said. The products in each bust would
have sold for about $1 million on the street.
As with the rest of the software industry, Nintendo suffers gigantic
losses to counterfeiters, particularly in Asian countries.
Nintendo claims it loses $810 million in potential sales each year to
fakers. It had $3.51 billion in sales last year.
A Nintendo spokeswoman said the company is studying its legal options
against the suspects. The company also has asked for
help from the U.S. trade representative's office.
Nintendo said Paraguayan customs officials have a standing court order to
notify the company whenever they process a shipment
from Taiwan, where much of the copies of its products are made.
Customs officials notified local Nintendo representatives July 9 that they
had a shipment. The next day, the products were
determined to be fake and were seized, Nintendo said.
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