An investigation by Cornwall Council’s Trading Standards team has led to the sentencing of Daniel Pettit of Newquay, at Truro Crown Court on Friday 14 January 2022 for offences relating to the sale of counterfeit goods.
At an earlier hearing, Pettit had entered guilty pleas to a Companies Act 2006 offence of fraudulent trading, along with offences of possession with intent to supply counterfeit goods under the Trade Marks Act 1994.
On Friday, Pettit was sentenced to a suspended 2-year prison sentence, a 200-hour Community Order, ordered to pay £250,000 under the Proceeds of Crime Act, and a £35,000 costs order.
Pettit’s company, Dinneres Trading Company Ltd - trading as ‘No Worries’ in Bank Street, Newquay - had printed and supplied T-shirts, mugs and other goods with various popular designs. Many of these goods bore registered trademarks which the company was not authorised to use. In addition to pre-prepared products, customers were able to request products be printed with images or designs relating to a number of popular brands. These included recent favourites such as ‘Fortnite’, ‘Call of Duty’ and ‘Northface’. Again, the company was not authorised to reproduce these images or designs.
Cornwall Trading Standards warned the business on several occasions about these activities. Despite these warnings, evidence again came to light in 2018 that the business was continuing to print unauthorised trademarks. Test purchases were made by officers to confirm what was happening.
A warrant was served at the shop premises, where a large volume of pre-printed goods was seized, along with printing blanks for unauthorised designs. Officers noted that genuine goods were mixed in amongst the counterfeit ones with similar prices, making it unclear to purchasers which items were genuine.
Gary Webster, Cornwall Council’s Fair Trading Team Manager, said; “The printing and supply of counterfeit goods had been a longstanding issue with this company. Despite numerous attempts to advise and warn Mr Pettit, we were eventually left with no other option than to bring a prosecution. During our enquiries it was shown that Pettit had applied for his own trademark – demonstrating that he knew the value of protecting a brand’s intellectual property.”
Cornwall Council Portfolio Holder for Public Protection, Councillor Martyn Alvey said; “This sentence sends a strong message to those businesses who produce and sell counterfeit goods. Cornish businesses who trade legitimately face unfair competition from those who seek to flout the rules. Whilst our regulatory teams will always seek to provide advice and support in the first instance, we will not hesitate to pursue legal action for those that continue to ignore the advice.”
Story posted 18 January 2022
