Five of the country’s biggest Internet Service Providers, namely Virgin Media, BT, EE, BSkyB and TalkTalk have been strictly instructed by the High Court to block all access to six websites which have been defamed for selling counterfeited goods.
Along with a straight-forward access denied notice issue to these websites, the additional ruling states injunction issued by the Richemont group (claiming to be authentic Montblanc-Simplo and Cartier International) will expire after a certain amount of time unless they re-submit a request for extension of the ISPs agree to prolong the directive.
The six websites in question are- artierloveonline.com, hotcartierwatch.com, iwcwatchtop.com, replicawatchesiwc.com, 1iwc.com, montblancpensonlineuk.com and ukmontblancoutlet.co.uk, all of whom are known to sell fake high-value items such as watches and pens.
The step is a sure short recognition of the fact that there is public interest in preventing trade mark infringement, particularly where counterfeit goods are involved.
Meanwhile, in December last year, the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU), Europol and the US authorities closed down 90 websites selling counterfeit goods as part of its worldwide crackdown.
