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Archived updates for Tuesday, March 08, 2005

Counterfeit Raid May Cost Levi Strauss $45 Million

According to a March 7, 2005 report from Associated Press, a federal court in Mexico has ordered jeans maker Levi Strauss & Co. to pay $45 million to a former contractor wrongly targeted in a police raid seeking to crack down on clothing counterfeiters.

The lawsuit, Companie Exportadora de Maquila, Comexma v. Levi Strauss & Co, et. al, was brought following a raid on Comexma's Mexico City facilities that was conducted by local police and accompanied by local media upon the initiation of the Company's outside Mexican brand protection counsel. According to Levi's press release,
"[T]he local counsel failed to follow the Company's pre-approval procedures for
initiating such a raid, which required such counsel to check with the Company
before going forward to confirm that the target was not an authorized
contractor. No counterfeiting activity was uncovered, and the raid was
terminated upon confirmation from the Company that Comexma was an authorized
manufacturer. The raid occurred within a few months after the Company had
notified Comexma that it was terminating its contract manufacturing
relationship, and during the period in which the Company believes Comexma was in
the process of negotiating with its employees and others to shut down its
facility.
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