Counterfeit clothes have been examined by jurors in the trial of two men who opened a shop in Oxford.
Matthew Croxson and Matthew Brooks opened Labels 4 Less on the site of the former Borders bookstore in Magdalen Street in April 2010.
The pair are on trial accused of five counts of exposing for sale goods infringing a registered trademark, in relation to G-Star T-shirts, Ralph Lauren tops, Tommy Hilfiger tops, Ed Hardy by Christian Audigier tops and Ecko Unltd jumpers.
The duo also deny two counts of possessing goods infringing registered trademarks with a view to sale, in relation to Ralph Lauren tops and Tommy Hilfiger tops.
On day two of the trial at Oxford Crown Court yesterday, Ronald Harrison, who works on behalf of Ecko Unltd and Ed Hardy to protect the companies’ brands, distributed five fake Ed Hardy T-shirts seized from the store.
He said genuine items would retail for between £60 and £100 and the copies were “generally of poor quality and the labelling was not correct”.
Mr Harrison said one of the Ed Hardy T-shirts had a “pre-2009” neck label but a “post-2009 hand tag” with a “forged Christian Audigier anti-counterfeit label”.
Croxson, 42, of Southend, Essex, and Brooks, 38, of Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, said they thought the goods were genuine.
The trial continues.
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