MOSCOW, December 8 (RIA Novosti) - Russian authorities seized about 11 million counterfeit items in 2005 worth $34.5 million, a senior Economic Development Ministry official said Thursday.
"During the first 11 months of 2005, police inspected 80,000 companies and production facilities in order to establish the facts of legal violations in the area of intellectual property, particularly the production of counterfeit goods," Deputy Economic Development Minister Andrei Sharonov said at a roundtable conference in Moscow.
He said 5,456 criminal cases had been filed in connection with the violations.
"As a result of inspections, 200 facilities involved in the production of counterfeit goods have been shut down," Sharonov said. "The production equipment at these facilities has been dismantled."
He said the estimated damage caused by the counterfeiting of CDs and DVDs alone hit $14 million in 2005.
He also said the Supreme Court had drafted a document, that, if approved, would establish new legal examination procedures in cases involving the violation of intellectual property.
