In a decision dated November 14, judge Judith Snider entered a default judgment in favour of Louis Vuitton against two individuals doing business as K2 Fashions in Richmond, British Columbia.
Snider awarded LV a total of more than C$263,000 ($264,000) including C$100,000 in punitive damages and more than C$36,000 in legal costs. The damages for copyright and trade mark infringement took account of each instance of infringement that LV showed.
The defendants are Lin Pi-Chu Yang (also known as Pi-Chu Lin, Wai Ying, Martina and Coco), and Tim Yang Wei-Kai (also known as Wei-Kai Yang).
LV has been trying to stop the sale of copyright- and trade mark-infringing goods at K2 Fashions since at least 2001. But despite two court judgments, seizures and other actions its attempts have been unsuccessful.
In July this year, LV filed an action alleging trade mark and copyright infringement over the past two years. When no response was received from the defendants, LV brought a motion for default judgment.
At the trial, six instances of infringement were identified, as well as catalogues describing items bearing LV trade marks.
The judge found that "on a balance of probabilities" Lin and Yang knowingly and willingly infringed LV’s copyright and trade mark rights.
Awarding LV its costs, Snider said she found "the continued flagrant infringement of the Plaintiffs’ intellectual property rights to be worthy of rebuke" and the conduct of the defendants to be "reprehensible, scandalous and outrageous".
In another decision last month, Microsoft won a series of interlocutory injunctions against Carmelo Cerrelli, a convicted seller of counterfeit software who – the judge said – had created a string of companies at the same address in order to elude justice.
Cerrelli had established at least 17 companies in what Microsoft alleged was an attempt to hide his revenues from software piracy and transfer money out of Canada.
In December 20006, Cerrelli was found to have run two companies, using the name Inter-Plus, which trafficked counterfeit Microsoft software.
Finding that Cerrelli had infringed the software company’s copyright and trade mark rights, the judge in that case issued a permanent injunction and ordered Cerrelli to pay a record C$2.2 million, including costs. Cerrelli’s appeal in this case is pending.
Faced with evidence of further infringement, as well as the establishment of more companies by Cerrelli, on October 30 this year, Microsoft sought numerous legal remedies including a seizure order, an interim injunction, an Anton Piller order and a Mareva injunction order. These were granted and were to remain in force for 14 days.
On executing the October 30 seizure order, Microsoft’s representatives found that Cerrelli’s businesses had 602 counterfeit copies of Microsoft software with a retail value of C$415,000.
In a ruling dated November 19 (but not yet available online), Judge Yves de Montingny granted Microsoft’s request to validate the execution of the seizure before judgment order and the Anton Piller order, and to convert the interim and Mareva injunction orders into interlocutory orders.
De Montigny was unimpressed with Cerrelli’s arguments that he himself and many of his companies were not involved in the illegal activity: "In light of ... Mr Cerrelli’s propensity to create legal entities for the sole purpose of facilitating his dubious schemes, I have no hesitation in concluding that all the defendants are for all intents and purposes one and the same business."
In agreeing to convert the Mareva injunction order into an interlocutory Mareva injunction order, to stop the defendants transferring funds from Canada to bank accounts in the US and Jamaica, the judge said: "There is absolutely no evidence at all that these defendants do not deal at all, in one way or another, with the plaintiff’s counterfeit products."
