What to Know
- Customs officers in Philadelphia seized 20,400 counterfeit Oral-B electric toothbrush heads.
- The fake heads were shipped from China and addressed to a location in Delran, New Jersey, CBP says.
- The brush heads, if authentic, would have a manufacturer suggested retail price of $95,600, the CBP said.
A massive toothbrush head seizure in Philadelphia has taken more than 20,000 counterfeit Oral-B brush heads out of circulation.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized 20,400 Oral-B electric toothbrush heads shipped from China and addressed to Delran, New Jersey, on Nov. 7, the CBP said Wednesday.
The oral hygiene products — with a suggested price tag of more than $95,000, if authentic — were packed in 10-pack and 3-pack varieties and shipped in a container.
Poor packaging and questionable quality made CBP officers question the legitimacy of the brush heads. The CBP’s Consumer Products and Mass Merchandising Centers for Excellence and Expertise then confirmed with the trademark holder that the brush heads weren’t real Oral-B products.
“Counterfeit toothbrush heads pose a serious health threat to consumers, as do all counterfeit health care products,” the CBP said in its release. “Counterfeit brush heads are manufactured in unsanitary facilities with substandard materials that may sicken users or cause bleeding to a user’s gums or mouth, and structural defects may cause the brush head to detach and potentially choke users.”
There will be an investigation into the importer, but at this time there have been no arrests, CBP spokesman Steve Sapp said.
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Seizing counterfeit goods is commonplace for the CBP. They say that CBP officers seized around $3.7 million worth of products with Intellectual Property Rights violations on a typical day in 2018.
Last year alone, CBP enforcement officers along with ICE Homeland Security Investigations agents arrested nearly 400 people, obtained nearly 300 indictments and received 260 convictions related to intellectual property crimes.
