I received an email today from Laura Burgess marketing. Laura and her husband represent Revision eyewear and publish a weekly newsletter. This is a story from the newsletter emailed out today.

For those who attend SHOT each year it’s no secret that certain foreign companies attend the show for reasons other than legitimate business. It’s common knowledge among the companies attending the show as well as the media that some of these foreign nationals are attending SHOT do so in order to gain product information, take photos of new products and at times actually place orders to get samples of products in order to go back home and start counterfeiting popular and lucrative products. Once copied these same products end up in the USA and other countries marked as the real product right down to the same packaging as the real product.

This news story is a case of Revision Military working with law enforcement and prosecutors to setup a sting operation to catch the counterfeiters and send them off to jail. The counterfeit product in this case is the Revision Desert Locust goggles. The sting was executed at the Snow Show on January 28th in Denver, Colorado. When the sting operation was completed the suspects were arrested on the show floor and taken away hopefully for a long stay.

The suspects are the US representatives for the Chinese company Guangzhou Botai Optical Visor Co., Ltd. Warrants have been issued for the companies co-owners brothers Jiang Xingde and Jiang Xinglin. The four who were arrested were charged with counterfeiting, theft, corrupt business practices, conspiracy to commit counterfeiting, conspiracy to commit theft, and conspiracy to commit corrupt business practices.

Of course the fake Revision goggles have no ballistic protection and are basically worthless. It’s good to hear that action was taken in this case and I hope this is the beginning of a trend to actively pursue and prosecute the companies making counterfeit products then selling them here. The complete details are in the statement below.

Desert Locust

Revision Military, a world leader in integrated, purpose-built soldier solutions, aided a sting operation to arrest owners and representatives of a Chinese company illegally manufacturing and selling counterfeit eyewear. Revision worked in conjunction with the Dearborn and Ohio County Prosecutor’s Office in Indiana to execute this action. The operation was carried out on January 28th at the SnowSports Industries America (SIA) Snow Show in Denver, Colorado. Guangzhou Botai Optical Visor Co., Ltd. (“Guangzhou Botai”) U.S. representative and part owner, Gong Peiwen, also known as Daniel Gong, was arrested on the showroom floor. Arrest warrants have also been issued for brothers Jiang Xingde and Jiang Xinglin, co-owners of Guangzhou Botai, and Ding Xiaoxia, also known as Crystal Ding, Sales Associate for Guangzhou Botai, which is based in Guangzhou, China. The four are facing six felony charges: counterfeiting, theft, corrupt business practices, conspiracy to commit counterfeiting, conspiracy to commit theft, and conspiracy to commit corrupt business practices. These charges are being brought in Indiana.
Guangzhou Botai has been producing unauthorized counterfeit versions of Revision Military Desert Locust™ goggle. Additionally, these fake products have been distributed under the pretense of providing military-grade ballistic protection which presents a hazard to the safety of users expecting the high level eye protection of authentic Revision products. After extensive investigation of the company and testing of the counterfeit products it produces, conclusions showed none of the established industry standards for optical or ballistic quality were met by these unauthorized product knockoffs.
“We were alarmed to learn of these counterfeit products,” said Jonathan Blanshay, CEO of Revision Military, “our customers expect only the best quality and performance from our products. We take pride in exceeding the highest specifications for optics and ballistic impact protection and have invested huge amounts of money to create the best possible protective products. We have built our name and reputation on exceeding standards and will not tolerate inferior, non-authorized knockoff products in the marketplace.”
Mr. Blanshay reiterated that, when it comes to customers being victimized by inferior forgeries, Revision has a zero tolerance approach, stating, “the Revision brand signifies integrity and elite performance. Fraudulent products undermine our core mission to protect the troops who protect all of us. We are taking this matter very seriously and will do everything in our power to ensure that any individuals or corporate entities involved in an illicit enterprise that threatens Revision’s customers and the Revision reputation are prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Our mission is to provide the very best protection to soldiers and we will fight to prevent any undermining of that promise to global warfighters.”

Revision Military