Pair convicted of golf club counterfeiting in China

July 3, 7:47 PMGolf Equipment ExaminerSteve Pike

The U.S. Golf Manufacturers Anti-Counterfeiting Working Group comprised of Acushnet Company (Titleist, FootJoy, Cobra), Callaway Golf, Cleveland/Srixon Golf, Nike Golf, PING and TaylorMade Golf Company reports that the Shanghai Changning District Court has convicted two principal violators (Shi-Feng and Shi-Chun-Ping) for selling counterfeit golf products. These convictions were the culmination of an enforcement action conducted after complaints were filed by the group with China's  Public Security Bureau.

Many counterfeit golf clubs are sold, at very low prices, at shopping centers in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

The court determined that the defendants were guilty of an "attempted crime" based on the evidence that the inventory of counterfeit golf products was not ultimately sold only because their operation was raided. In addition, the court acknowledged that the defendants confessed, and expressed remorse for their actions. For these reasons, the court mitigated the punishment according to Chinese criminal law.

An official ceremony recently took in Shanghai whereby the counterfeit products seized in the raids were destroyed by the PSB. The Chinese court had valued the counterfeit golf equipment seized by the PSB at more than $880,000. A bulldozer crushed the illegal goods into useless scrap.