We refer to the photo used to accompany Ivan Camilleri’s article EU Targets Fake Medicine (February 18). We act as legal advisers to the shippers of the goods shown in the photograph which were seized by the Customs authorities on the strength of powers granted to them in terms of the Intellectual Property Rights (Cross-Border Measures) Act (Chapter 414 of the Laws of Malta) on suspicion of their being “counterfeit”.

The word “counterfeit” as understood in terms of intellectual property law is used to refer to goods which allegedly infringe intellectual property rights and has no connotation or relevance in relation to the production of the goods or to whether the goods are “genuine” or “false” as per the subject of the article. The seizure of the goods depicted in the photo published accompanying the article was not made on the strength of allegations that the goods are “false medicines”. Indeed our clients have produced evidence in court to show that the goods were produced according to all applicable laws in the country of their manufacture. Accordingly, both the use of the photograph in the article and the caption underlying it were misleading and out of context.

Furthermore, the caption underlying the photograph was a misrepresentation of facts because it stated that the pills were Viagra which were “brought into the island illegally”. The products in the photo are clearly not Viagra and the goods were not in fact brought into Malta illegally. Indeed, they were not brought into Malta at all, in the sense that they were never imported nor intended to be put on the Maltese market. The goods were merely under a transit procedure, passing through Malta en route to a non-EU country.

For the record, our clients have filed an action in the courts contesting the legality of the seizure of the said goods by Customs. The case, Dr Luigi Sansone nomine vs Dr Nicolai Vella Falzon et nomine (Case Number 1058/2009RCP) is pending judgment. The use of the photo in these circumstances was therefore also grossly inappropriate.