A HAMPSHIRE mobile phone accessory company has lost out on £200,000 after using fake well-known brands and football club trademarks on phone covers.

Southampton’s Trading Standards has prosecuted Cellbell Ltd and its sole director Malek Addouj for unauthorised use of trademarks and confiscated £185,000 made from these activities.

Both were sentenced earlier this month for the sale and possession for sale of mobile phone covers bearing unauthorised trademarks.

Southampton City Council’s Trading Standards officers had identified that Cellbell Ltd, which is registered to an address in Eagle Close, Chandler's Ford, was selling mobile phone covers on Amazon in the summer of 2012.

Officers seized hundreds of phone covers bearing trademarks of Premier League football clubs, including Southampton FC, and other famous brands including Beats and Chanel.

Further investigations uncovered a number of linked Amazon and eBay accounts with income from sales flowing to Cellbell Ltd and Mr Addouj.

Both Cellbell Ltd and Mr Addouj entered guilty pleas.

They accepted that they had earned £185,000 from unlawful activity and this sum will be confiscated under the Proceeds of Crimes Act 2002.

This is the first time that Southampton City Council has used these powers and is the result of close working with Portsmouth City Council’s Trading Standards team.

Southampton City Council will receive 25 per cent of the confiscation amount, while Portsmouth’s Trading Standards - who carried out the financial investigation - will receive 12.5 per cent of the proceeds, with the rest going to the courts and central government.

The company was also fined £30,000 and ordered to destroy the unauthorised products.

Addouj received an eight month custodial sentence suspended for 12 months, plus 100 hours of unpaid community work and costs of £17,000.

Cllr Jacqui Rayment, Southampton City Council’s cabinet member for Environment and Transport, said: “This was early days in the history of this business and at that time Mr Addouj had failed to ensure that he had the permission of the trademark owner before using trademarks.

“By using the trademarks he was able to sell huge numbers of phone covers but in doing so was acting illegally.

"Trademarks are very valuable to brand owners and unauthorised use results in loss of income to both the brand owner and authorised sellers, as well as disappointment for consumers."

She added that the money confiscated that had come to the council would be used to fund more Trading Standards officers.