LG MobileComm Hails $168 Million Court Judgment Against 17 Counterfeiters

A federal judge granted LG MobileComm USA’s motion for a default judgment of $168 million in damages against 17 Chinese defendants and their U.S. affiliates for infringing LG trademarks by selling counterfeit and knockoff LG Tone headsets and other LG products. U.S. District Judge Janis Sammartino in San Diego also granted LG’s motions for a permanent injunction and for recovery of lawyers’ fees, said her Monday order (in Pacer). The $168 million in damages was $2 million for each trademark the defendants were found to have violated, the order said. With LG’s “hard-earned success came freeloading counterfeiters and knockoff artists, who seek to dupe and confuse potential consumers into buying poorly performing, shoddy products under the false pretense that such goods are made or authorized by us," said Chang Ma, president of LG Electronics Mobile USA, in a statement. With the ruling, "along with other judgments against various other defendants, LG has successfully slammed shut a sizable portion of counterfeits and knockoffs" of its popular LG Tone headset line being sold in the U.S, the company said.