"Raw Thrills Inc., a leader in video game technology, recently launched an international anti-piracy program to attack global violations of Raw Thrills Intellectual Property rights," announced Mark Struhs, Raw Thrills Sales Manager.
"Raw Thrills has been alerted to the presence of inferior, defective, illegal copies of our games. We received a large increase in service calls due to premature failure of games in Asia and verified these defective units were copy games. We have conducted investigations and actions against several targets in China and Australia and our investigations are continuing," said Struhs. "We have acquired customer lists and will seek damages against anyone manufacturing, operating, or selling these illegal games."
"Our program is designed to eliminate piracy of Raw Thrills products and to protect our customers from inferior, defective games. Make sure to purchase Raw Thrills games only from authorized distributors. Our message is clear if you manufacture, distribute, or operate copies of Raw Thrills products we are going after you. We will use all criminal and civil remedies available to us," warned Struhs.
Raw Thrills has retained the services of the law firms SIPS and Baker & McKenzie, as well as Bob Fay, former FBI Agent and anti-piracy IP protection expert. A team of investigators in China has already identified and is continuing to investigate suspected game pirates. Local authorities in China are conducting raids and seizures including Super Bikes 2 and Dirty Drivin' copies.
"To date our efforts have identified three Chinese companies: Yida Electronics Factory, Luxing Animation Technology Company, and a third company that cannot be named at this time. All three have signed undertakings acknowledging their illegal dealings in Raw Thrills copies, offering apologies and compensatory actions, and will cease-and-desist these activities. Copy games found on location have been destroyed and financial settlements have been negotiated," said Struhs.
He added, "We are conducting appropriate follow-up investigations in other Asian countries: Turkey, South Africa, India, Russia, the Middle East, and other areas. The Raw Thrills legal team has also identified an importer and distributor of Raw Thrills copies in Australia. This company has also agreed to cooperate and has identified its Chinese supplier and Australian customers. Our Australia legal team is taking actions based upon the information obtained."
"We will also be doing take downs of advertisements for Raw Thrills copies appearing on Alibaba and other online platforms," said Struhs. Raw Thrills has been coordinating its efforts with Chinese copyright enforcement authorities as well as other victim game makers. Additional investigations and actions will be taking place in coordination with these other companies.
Struhs reiterated, "We will continue to pursue violations of copyrights and trademarks of our rights. Anyone manufacturing, distributing, or operating counterfeit Raw Thrills products, any place in the world, should be on notice that they could face criminal charges as well as civil claims, including damages." For more information, contact Struhs, (847)679-8373, ext. 29; e-mail (mstruhs@rawthrills.com).
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