Counterfeit clothes for charity

This Kat has often wondered 'what happens to all the counterfeit designer clothes seized by customs or trading standards?' In your 'IP feel-good story of the week', this Kat is pleased to inform you of a scheme under which counterfeit clothes are donated to a charity, His Church. They are then rebranded and distributed to the homeless and vulnerable as gifts. In an interview with the BBC, His Church co-ordinator Richard Humphrey discussed how Tommy Hilfiger had asked him to rebrand some counterfeit jeans which had been bought in good faith by a French supermarket but were later revealed to be either pirated or stolen and had to be removed from sale. Apparently Tommy Hilfiger labelled His Church as 'the world leaders in rebranding counterfeit clothes'.

In six years since commencing operations, His Church has convinced 90% of UK Trading Standards authorities to hand over counterfeit clothes to them. Customs officials even went so far as to give His Church the industrial sewing machines, which it now uses for the rebranding, after they were also seized from clothing counterfeiters.

What about heavily branded counterfeit items which cannot simply be patched over? In these situations, Mr Humphrey states:

'We have permission to send them outside the EU, often to Africa ... But we have a duty of care and trust. We have to keep an audit trail of every single item of clothing, where it's come from, exactly where it goes - even down to a pair of underpants.'

This Kat applauds this as a cost effective and feel-good solution to the problem of what to do with counterfeit clothing. It saves customs and trading standards paying for storage of the items while awaiting a court order and for incineration or landfill costs once the items have been established as counterfeits. With many individuals facing financial hardship as a result of the global financial crisis, the scheme allows His Church to distribute new clothing to arguably those in society who need it most.

For further information, please contact Richard at hisfood@hischurch.org.uk or call 01933 623 236.