Intellectual Property Law

Seattle Seller Caught with 33,700 Fake Handbags

By Michael Atkins

King County prosecutors filed charges against a Seattle man accused of selling fake handbags.

The Seattle police collected 33,700 items from proprietor Touray Burama’s home. He allegedly ran EB’s Fine Handbags in south Seattle.

According to the Seattle-PI: “(An undercover officer) asked the worker [at EB’s] if the handbag on the wall was a ‘Kate Spade,’ investigators said in search warrants filed in U.S. District Court. The worker stated that the handbag was in fact a ‘Kate Spade’ and that he could sell it to her. However, he needed to sew on a ‘Kate Spade’ logo for her.”

Seems like that might be a tip-off the bags weren’t real. You mean you don’t put the Rolls Royce hood ornament on until after I buy the car?

Apparently Mr. Burama sold a few bags in his time. The P-I says the cops picked up $180,000 in its sweep, which Mr. Burama forfeited to the federal government. He’s now facing charges for counterfeiting.

Full post as published by Seattle Trademark Lawyer on March 17, 2011 (boomark / email).