Manchester United is asking the courts to stop two companies from selling counterfeit merchandise bearing the trademarks of the famous soccer club. The publicly listed British company, which operates Manchester United Football Club, is seeking injunctions against Modern Sports Concept (International) Ltd and Soccer Planet (International) Ltd. Separate writs filed in the High Court say Modern Sports and Soccer Planet were authorised to sell and distribute the club's official merchandise in Hong Kong until January last year, when their licences were revoked. Representatives of Manchester United visited the retail stores of the Hong Kong companies in July and found counterfeit items on sale, the writs say. The representatives bought bogus merchandise - two caps, two key-chains, a sticker, two T-shirts, a pair of gloves and a writing pad - in the Modern Sports shops in Kowloon Bay and Tsim Sha Tsui, it says. They also bought a pair of socks, a T-shirt, a wrist band and a sticker in Soccer Planet shops in Tsuen Wan and Kowloon City. 'The use by the defendants of the plaintiff's trademarks upon football merchandise is calculated to deceive,' the writs say. Injunctions are being sought to prevent them passing off or attempting to pass off the merchandise as Manchester United goods.
