Stuart Adams, Partner and Global Head of Enforcement at IP specialist law firm Rouse, comments on the UK Border Agency’s warning today about the ‘wave of counterfeit goods’ flooding the market ahead of the holidays:
“The state of the economy makes the search for a bargain an even greater temptation than usual. Couple that with the massive increase in shopping via the internet, and you have a perfect storm for the counterfeiters to exploit.
“Selling via the internet, in particular the popular auction sites, is incredibly easy and relatively risk free for unscrupulous sellers. Anyone can be a retailer with no significant effort or investment. Savvy and determined counterfeiters can hide their identities with relative ease. With such an enormous volume of fake goods, it is impossible for brand owners and the auction sites to police the cyber market with any significant degree of success, despite massive efforts – massive efforts which, incidentally, represent a significant cost to the brand owners and this inevitably feeds through to the price of genuine goods.
“It’s all too easy to blame the brand owners for not doing enough to fight the counterfeiters, or the auction sites for not doing enough to keep their websites clean. But we don’t hear enough people blaming the real culprits – the counterfeiters. Less still do we hear anyone blaming the people whose insatiable demand is the fuel the counterfeiters thrive on – the consumers!
“Unfortunately, despite their best efforts, brand owners are not winning the battle for the hearts and minds of consumers. Too many consumers still think that it’s OK to buy a counterfeit if they know they’re not being fooled or will knowingly take a risk because the price differential is just too much to resist. The justification we often hear is that the genuine product is overpriced. This very conveniently justifies what amounts to theft and ignores a whole host of arguments for why counterfeiting is so bad: counterfeiters tend not to pay taxes, they tend not to respect employment laws or health and safety laws, they certainly don’t respect product safety laws, and those engaged towards the top of the counterfeiting food chain are often involved in other more serious crimes such as trafficking drugs and people.
“Sadly all too many consumers, especially in tough economic times, are prepared to shut the arguments out and bag a ‘bargain’. Until they get the message, there are only too many people prepared to make the fakes they crave and sell to the wary and unwary alike.”
About Paul Bessant
