A New York court has confirmed an injunction against 60 unidentified holders of illegal online profiles and the transfer to Salvatore Ferragamo of about 150 domains that were infringing upon the luxury brand’s rights.

The websites were selling counterfeit Salvatore Ferragamo products, and the court ruling acknowledged the substantial damage this had caused for the luxury Italian brand, ordering US$60 million in compensation.

Also comprising exemplary damages, the ruling was the highest ever awarded for this type of violation, says Salvatore Ferragamo Group chairman Ferruccio Ferragamo.

“The internet is the prime channel for traffickers of counterfeit goods and so is the focus of our monitoring and control efforts. In recent years, our group has implemented a series of anti-counterfeiting measures, both on- and off-line, to protect our customers and the value of our brand.”

These measures last year enabled the group to have more than 35,000 items and illegal profiles removed from major social networks, as well as the interception, blocking and deletion of nearly 69,000 counterfeit products from online auctions.

Furthermore, the group constantly monitors offline markets through court and out-of-court activities, focusing its efforts on China. About 62,000 counterfeit products were seized in China last year, out of the more than 268,000 counterfeit products seized around the world.