A federal court in Houston, TX has awarded Farouk Systems Inc. the manufacturer of CHI Ceramic Hairstyling irons and other personal products, a $300 million default judgment against a group of Internet counterfeiters in a trademark infringement case.

The defendants, based in China and Hong Kong, operated under a series of fake names and addresses, setting up more than 100 different websites and online businesses to sell counterfeit CHI hair products to U.S. customers. Domain names included chihaironline.com and chiretailsite.com to trick customers into believing they were receiving genuine CHI products.

"While the sale of counterfeit products is irresponsible for any company, it is worse counterfeiting heating appliances, like hair styling irons, since these fakes have not passed regulatory safety standards," says Farouk Systems founder and chairman Farouk Shami. "People think that by buying over the Internet, they are getting a deal, but in reality, they are buying fake inferior products that could be a fire hazard."

Farouk Systems was able to obtain a court injunction to freeze the counterfeiters' assets and shut down their websites.

Here are some examples of the counterfeit websites in this case:


Farouk Systems Wins Trademark Infringement Case

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Farouk Systems Wins Trademark Infringement Case

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