Florida Man Sentenced in Federal Counterfeit Case for Trafficking Bogus Automotive Devices

By SEMA Washington, D.C., Staff

A Florida man will serve jail time and is required to pay restitution for trafficked counterfeit goods. The goods at issue were counterfeits of electronic engine-control devices that are produced and marketed by Hondata for use in modified Honda and Acura vehicles. 

In a plea agreement filed with a U.S. District Court, the defendant admitted that, beginning in 2009, he arranged for Hondata’s K-Pro and S300 devices to be reverse-engineered. The counterfeit devices bore Hondata’s trademarked name, as well as counterfeit serial numbers. The defendant also admitted to creating counterfeit packaging, labels, instructions and compact discs for the devices. 

The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. For more information on how to protect your intellectual property, go to www.sema.org/ipr.