More than €30,000 worth of designer clothing is to be destroyed after a small Irish store was found to be selling Abercrombie & Fitch clothing without permission from the US clothing giant.
On June 13th last, more than 800 items of clothing , estimated to be worth €32,000, were seized at the McGazz shop, Cornmarket Row, Limerick, on foot of a court order granted to Abercrombie & Fitch.
Last October at Limerick District Court, Abercrombie & Fitch successfully sued McGazz Ltd for breaches of the 1996 Trademark Act.
The Ohio-based company, which opened its first Irish flagship store in Dublin last November, only allows the sale of its clothes through stores it owns and operates.
New Jersey
McGazz opened in Limerick in July 2011 and Conor Twomey who runs the store with his brother John, bought the clothing at Abercrombie & Fitch outlet stores in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
He posted the goods to Limerick and paid excise duty and tax before selling them cheaper than the US clothing company’s Irish prices.
“These goods are absolutely 100 per cent genuine and legal,” he told the court, adding he has never bought or sold counterfeit goods at the store.
Judge Aeneas McCarthy ruled the law was on the side of Abercrombie & Fitch and granted an order for the destruction of the clothing.
Mr Twomey appealed the case to Limerick Circuit Court yesterday. Following lengthy discussions, counsel for Abercrombie & Fitch Peter Clein asked Judge Tom O’Donnell to affirm the order of Limerick District Court in respect of the destruction of the clothing.
However, he asked Judge O’Donnell to vacate the order against Mr Twomey in respect of costs for the original case and asked that no order be made as to costs for the appeal.
At the last court hearing, a suggestion to donate the clothes to charity was rejected due to potential further breaches of trademark laws.