Over the years I have run across trademark licenses and trademark infringement settlement agreements where one party or the other wants the ability to donate counterfeit goods that may have been confiscated to a charity.  Rights holders often refuse because of the concern that the counterfeit goods may not actually go to a charity, but be placed back into the stream of commerce and resold in the marketplace.  A bigger concern for trademark holders is the quality and safety of the counterfeit/infringing items.  Could someone be hurt by a dye in fabric or paint on a toy?

This December, the homeless in LA benefitted from recently passed Senate Bill 324.  The Los Angeles Police Department piracy unit donated 10,000 pairs of confiscated counterfeit athletic shoes.  Under the California Penal Code section 350, the police may donate, with consent of the trademark owner, confiscated counterfeit goods to organizations serving the homeless.

The New York Times reported this week that in 2009 the City of New York shredded and incinerated tons of “knock-off” clothing collected in police raids.  In the past the City donated these garments to charity organizations that removed the counterfeit trademark markings.  In 2009 the City reports there were no requests for the goods to go to charities.

The US Customs and Border Protection are involved as well.  The New York/New Jersey US Customs and Border Protection field office is the fourth US Customs office to develop a counterfeit donation program.  Los Angeles, Detroit and San Francisco US Customs and Border Protection field offices already have such programs in place.  Most of the items included in the donations are clothing, but there have been some donations of televisions. 

Article 46 of the TRIPS agreement governs what the US Customs and Border Protection may do with confiscated items.  This link is a law review note that gives lots of details on the pros and cons of donating items to charity.   The article looks at the situation that occurred where over $20 million dollars in seized infringing items were provided to hurricane survivors after Hurricane Katrina.