Tuesday, February 28, 2023 – The controversy surrounding China Square has taken another twist after President William Ruto’s government raided its stores and seized counterfeit goods worth millions of shillings.
According to reports, Anti-Counterfeit Authority (ACA) seized goods worth Ksh50 million from the premises to investigate infringement claims on intellectual property.
Reports indicated that a Kenyan-based company claimed ownership of trademark finder – a brand name under which finder branded goods were sold at China Square.
According to the local company, they own the domain name Finder and are the sole distributor of Finder products in the country.
Ibrahim Bule, ACA regional manager, affirmed that they carried out an extensive audit to ascertain if China Square had infringed on the trademark claims.
“We conducted a search in the place and investigations are still ongoing. They are quite merchandised products of different brands. We will be able to give a statement after we conclude our investigations,” Bule stated.
On their part, China Square’s legal team claimed they are working with the government and the Kenyan company to resolve the standoff.
“You’ve seen the officers from ACA have come to the premises to check on the goods. They have done the inspection and currently, investigations are ongoing,” Josephine Oyombe, China Square’s advocate stated.
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