As fans gather for this weekend’s MBNA Racepoints 400 at Dover International Speedway, track owner Dover Motorsports Inc. is greeting vendors with a new twist on the old “buyer beware” adage – seller beware. Dover Motorsports officials were granted a Delaware Court of Chancery order allowing them to seize any track-related merchandise, counterfeit or otherwise, sold without their approval during race week, which began Monday. The order allows the seizure of counterfeit and noncounterfeit goods, including hats, tickets and T-shirts, sold without authorization on track property through June 8. It also allows the seizure of counterfeit goods offered for sale within three miles of the track, which covers pretty much the entire town, and on or within one mile of “park and ride” lots or other parking areas associated with the race. Anyone whose property is seized will get a copy of the court order, and the confiscated property will be held and inventoried pending a June 13 hearing for anyone wanting to argue that their merchandise was wrongly seized and should be returned. “We’ve been doing that for years,” said Denis McGlynn, president and chief executive of Dover Motorsports. “You never know what’s going to happen on race weekend.” Last month, agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, cooperating with NASCAR officials on “Project Raceday,” seized more than 7,100 counterfeit items valued at $160,000 at Talladega Super Speedway in Alabama. In a related move, NASCAR introduced an official hologram seal in January to verify the authenticity of officially licensed NASCAR merchandise. Filing a similar complaint last week in Delaware Chancery Court against “John Doe and other persons unknown” Dover Motorsports obtained an injunction allowing local and state police, as well track security personnel, to seize goods during race week. The order is designed to protect a host of DMI trademarks, which range from “Monster Mile” and its related “Concrete Monster” design to “Dover Motorsports,” “Dover Downs” and even “Dover” itself.(Delaware State News/AP)(6-4-2005)
