Typically, the company will get involved when they know who is importing or exporting the product and they will notify CBP so the shipment can be seized.
We don't know if they were involved, but it's possible Rimowa knew who the exporter was (from seeing the fakes online and ordering one themselves) and CBP then seized the package when it was imported. The article says, "Reed never received the suitcase" which indicates that the shipment could have been seized upon entry (because they were tipped off by Rimowa to look for packages from that exporter). Now they knew who the importer was (Reed) and they added his name to a database of illegal importers.
Since it was just one suitcase, it probably wasn't worthwhile going after him, but now his name was in the database (likely because they think it will help them catch more illegal imports). The tricky problem arises because there is likely no distinction in the database between one guy who didn't know he was ordering one counterfeit product for himself versus someone who imports container after container of counterfeits for resale. CBP enforces the law by seizing the product and it's up to the company to sue the importer. It's clearly a broken system with nasty ramifications for the people who got scammed.
We don't know if they were involved, but it's possible Rimowa knew who the exporter was (from seeing the fakes online and ordering one themselves) and CBP then seized the package when it was imported. The article says, "Reed never received the suitcase" which indicates that the shipment could have been seized upon entry (because they were tipped off by Rimowa to look for packages from that exporter). Now they knew who the importer was (Reed) and they added his name to a database of illegal importers.
Since it was just one suitcase, it probably wasn't worthwhile going after him, but now his name was in the database (likely because they think it will help them catch more illegal imports). The tricky problem arises because there is likely no distinction in the database between one guy who didn't know he was ordering one counterfeit product for himself versus someone who imports container after container of counterfeits for resale. CBP enforces the law by seizing the product and it's up to the company to sue the importer. It's clearly a broken system with nasty ramifications for the people who got scammed.