U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at the Port of Atlanta seized 66 boxes of “Rick and Morty” branded vape pens in a shipment that originated from China.
The popular cartoon characters were printed on the vape pen packaging, which made the merchandise suspect of copyright and trademark law infringement.
“One of our primary missions is to intercept merchandise that could pose a serious health risk to the consumer, but this shipment of counterfeit vape pens violated intellectual property rights,” said Paula Rivera, CBP port director for Atlanta, in a statement. “CBP collaborates with many government agencies to enforce laws to protect the health and safety of the consumer and our communities.”
After contacting brand owner Warner Bros. Entertainment, CBP import specialists determined the shipments of vape pens did indeed infringe upon the “Rick and Morty” copyright and seized the 19,800 flavored pens. Similar pens properly licensed would have a manufactured suggested retail price of more than $590,000.
Every year, CBP seizes millions of counterfeit goods from countries around the world. Nationwide in 2020, the agency seized 26,503 shipments containing goods that violated intellectual property rights. The total estimated value of the seized goods, had they been genuine, was nearly $1.3 billion.