According to information on July 24, 2026, in June 2026, through the professional exchange channel between the Domestic Market Management and Development Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade) and the US Internal Security Investigation Agency (HSI), the Department received initial information about a line showing signs of organizing the processing of Nike brand shoes in Vietnam for export to the United States.
Immediately after receiving the information, the Department worked with HSI and urgently verified, collected information and developed an inspection plan, ensuring confidentiality to prevent the risk of dispersing exhibits.
The verification process showed that the scale of the case was much larger than initial information. From about 12,000 suspicious pairs of shoes, functional agencies determined that the total number of related goods was nearly 50,000 pairs of shoes being processed at the production facility, which could not be distinguished from fake goods with the naked eye. Even the authentication code of each pair of shoes was copied from genuine genuine products. The most serious thing is that a part of the goods has been exported to the US market.
Recognizing that the remaining goods are at risk of being further completed for export, on July 16, 2026, the Department issued a Decision to inspect the compliance with the law in the production and business of goods at MP Company (headquartered in Ho Chi Minh City). The inspection was implemented in coordination with Department A05 (Ministry of Public Security) and local police.
At the time of inspection, the inspection team discovered that the enterprise was producing and storing a large quantity of finished and semi-finished shoes bearing the brands "NIKE", "NIKE AIR" and "AIR JORDAN".
The inspection team recorded 25,396 pairs of finished shoes bearing Nike and Air Jordan brands, with a total value of over 12.3 billion VND; and also discovered an additional 20,875 pairs of shoe hats and 10,800 pairs of shoe soles bearing Nike brands being completed, with a total value of over 11.2 billion VND. If calculated according to market prices, the total value of goods is over 100 billion VND.
Working with the inspection team, the business representative said that all goods were produced under a processing contract signed with F.C. T Company; raw materials provided by foreign partners, the business processed according to orders and returned products to partners for export.
The enterprise presented documents, including processing contracts, emails exchanged with partners, documents believed to be authorization to use the Nike brand, and export documents to explain the origin of the shipment. According to the enterprise's dossier, from the beginning of 2026 to the time of inspection, the enterprise successfully exported 11 containers to the US market of finished shoes with Nike and Air Jordan brands, with a total declared value of more than 25.46 billion VND.
However, according to Nike Vietnam's confirmation document and a letter from the Senior Director of Nike Inc.'s Global Li-xăng Division, Nike affirms that it has never issued any licenses, li-xăng contracts or authorization documents to MP or L.L. C; and does not allow these organizations or individuals to represent or impersonate Nike in business operations.
Based on the actual inspection results, the documents provided by the enterprise, the confirmation opinions of the rights holder and the information exchanged by HSI, the inspection team determined that the above-mentioned goods showed signs of counterfeiting trademarks being protected in Vietnam.
According to Mr. Tran Huu Linh, Director of the Domestic Market Management and Development Department, the initial results of the case affirm the determination to enforce intellectual property rights, fight against counterfeit goods, infringe upon industrial property rights, intellectual property rights; showing the effectiveness of the international coordination mechanism in detecting, sharing information and handling cross-border cases.
The detection is not only meaningful from the perspective of handling a violation, but has also discovered methods of violation that may still exist in the market, with the participation of many parties, even possibly collusion," Director Tran Huu Linh emphasized.
Currently, the Domestic Market Management and Development Department has made a record of inspection, applied preventive measures according to regulations, and at the same time continues to consolidate dossiers, expand the scope of origin of raw materials and import partners, and is expected to transfer the case to the investigating agency for consideration and strict handling, and dismantling the violating line to the end.
