Counterfeit consumer goods (or counterfeit and fraudulent, suspect items - CFSI) are goods, often of inferior quality, made or sold under another's brand name without the brand owner's authorization. Sellers of such goods may infringe on either the
trademark
A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from others ...
,
patent
A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...
or
copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...
of the brand owner by
passing off
Passing off is a common law tort which can be used to enforce unregistered trade mark rights. The tort of passing off protects the goodwill of a trader from misrepresentation.
The law of passing off prevents one trader from misrepresenting go ...
its goods as made by the brand owner.
[Chaudhry, Peggy E., Zimmerman, Alan. ''The Economics of Counterfeit Trade: Governments, Consumers, Pirates and Intellectual Property Rights'', Springer Science & Business Media (2009)] Counterfeit
To counterfeit means to imitate something authentic, with the intent to steal, destroy, or replace the original, for use in illegal transactions, or otherwise to deceive individuals into believing that the fake is of equal or greater value tha ...
products made up 5 to 7% of world trade in 2013,
["Challenging the Counterfeit Connector Conundrum"]
''Connector Supplier'', November 4, 2013["The spread of counterfeiting: Knock-offs catch on"]
''Economist'' magazine, March 4, 2010 and in 2014 cost an estimated 2.5 million jobs worldwide, with up to 750,000 jobs lost in the U.S.
About 5% of goods imported into the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
in 2013 were fakes, according to the
OECD
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate e ...
.
["Global trade in fake goods worth nearly half a trillion dollars a year - OECD & EUIPO"]
OECD, April 18, 2016
The colloquial term ''knockoff'' is often used interchangeably with ''counterfeit'', although their legal meanings are not identical. Knockoff products are those that copy or imitate the physical appearance of other products but which do not copy the brand name or logo of a trademark. They may still be illegal under trademark laws if they confuse consumers.
["Knock-off the Knockoffs: The Fight Against Trademark and Copyright Infringement"]
''Illinois Business Law Journal'', September 21, 2009 Counterfeiters can include producers, distributors or retail sellers.
[ Pirated goods are reproductions of copyrighted products used without permission, such as music, movies or software.][''The Economic Impact of Counterfeiting and Piracy'', OECD (2008)] Exact definitions depend on the laws of various countries.
Growing over 10,000% in the last two decades , counterfeit products exist in virtually every industry sector, including food, beverages, apparel, accessories, footwear, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, electronics, auto parts, toys, and currency. The spread of counterfeit goods are worldwide, with the International Chamber of Commerce
The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC; French: ''Chambre de commerce internationale'') is the largest, most representative business organization in the world. Its over 45 million members in over 100 countries have interests spanning every s ...
(ICC) in 2008 having estimated the global value of all counterfeit goods at $650 billion annually, increasing to $1.77 trillion by 2015. Countries including the U.S., Italy and France are among the hardest hit, as their economies thrive on producing high-value products, protected by intellectual property rights and trademarks. By 2017, the U.S. alone was estimated to be losing up to $600 billion each year to counterfeit goods, software piracy and the theft of copyrights and trade secrets.["Counterfeit Goods Cost the U.S. $600 Billion a Year"]
''Inc'', AP, February 27, 2017
General description
According to ''Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
'', in 2018 counterfeiting was the largest criminal enterprise in the world.["Meet The Man Fighting America's Trade War Against Chinese Counterfeits (It's Not Trump)"]
''Forbes'', March 29, 2018 Sales of counterfeit and pirated goods totals $1.7 trillion per year, which is more than drugs and human trafficking. It is expected to grow to $2.8 trillion and cost 5.4 million jobs by 2022.[ According to ''The Counterfeit Report'', "China produces 80% of the world's counterfeits and we're supporting China. Whether or not it's their intention to completely undermine and destroy the U.S. economy, we n the United Statesbuy about 60% to 80% of the products."][ It states:
]
The OECD
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate e ...
states that counterfeit products encompass all products made to closely imitate the appearance of the product of another as to mislead consumers. Those can include the unauthorized production and distribution of products that are protected by intellectual property rights, such as copyright, trademarks, and trade names. Counterfeiters illegally copy trademarks, which manufacturers have built up based on marketing investments and the recognized quality of their products, in order to fool consumers. Any product that is protected by intellectual property rights is a target for counterfeiters.[ Piotr Stryszowski, a senior economist at OECD, notes that it is not only the scale of counterfeiting that is alarming, but its rapidly growing scope, which means that now any product with a logo can become a target.
In many cases, different types of infringements overlap: unauthorized music copying mostly infringes copyright as well as trademarks; fake toys infringe design protection. Counterfeiting therefore involves the related issues of copying packaging, labeling, or any other significant features of the goods.][
Among the leading industries that have been seriously affected by counterfeiting are software, music recordings, motion pictures, luxury goods and fashion clothes, sportswear, perfumes, toys, aircraft components, spare parts and car accessories, and pharmaceuticals.][ Counterfeit pharmaceuticals are the most profitable sector of illegally copied goods, with lost revenues up to $217 billion per year. Fraudulent drugs are known to harm or kill millions around the world, thereby damaging the brand names and sales of major pharmaceutical manufacturers.]["Fighting counterfeit pharmaceuticals: New defenses for an underestimated - and growing - menace"]
''Strategy&'', June 29, 2017
Since counterfeits are produced illegally, they are not manufactured to comply with relevant safety standards. They will often use cheap, hazardous and unapproved materials or cut costs in some other manner. These unapproved materials can be hazardous to consumers, or the environment.
Growing problem
It was estimated by the OECD
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate e ...
that in 2013 counterfeit goods accounted for about $461 billion, or about 2.5% of total world trade. That estimate did not include either domestically produced and consumed products or digital products sold on the internet.["Trade in Counterfeit and Pirated Goods: Mapping the Economic Impact"]
OECD, April 18, 2016 That estimate rose from 1.8% of world trade in 2007. The OECD concluded that despite their improved interception technologies, "the problem of counterfeit and pirated trade has not diminished, but has become a major threat for modern knowledge-based economies."[
In the U.S., despite coordinated efforts by ]Immigration and Customs Enforcement
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. ICE's stated mission is to protect the United States from the cross-border crime and illegal immigration tha ...
and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to stem the influx of counterfeit goods into the U.S, there was a 38% increase in counterfeits seized between 2012 and 2016.["U.S. Customs Needs To Share More Info on Counterfeits With Online Retailers"]
''Nextgov'', March 6, 2018 In a test survey by the GAO
Gao , or Gawgaw/Kawkaw, is a city in Mali and the capital of the Gao Region. The city is located on the River Niger, east-southeast of Timbuktu on the left bank at the junction with the Tilemsi valley.
For much of its history Gao was an impor ...
of various items purchased online of major brands, all of which stated they were certified by Underwriters Laboratories
The UL enterprise is a global safety science company headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois, composed of three organizations, UL Research Institutes, UL Standards & Engagement and UL Solutions.
Established in 1894, the UL enterprise was founded a ...
, the GAO found that 43% were nonetheless fakes.[
The approximate cost to the U.S. from counterfeit sales was estimated to be as high $600 billion as of 2016.]["IP Commission Report"]
The National Bureau of Asian Research, 2017 A 2017 report by the Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property, stated that China and Hong Kong accounted for 87 percent of counterfeit goods seized entering the United States,[ and claimed that the Chinese government encourages intellectual property theft.]["Intellectual Property: Agencies Can Improve Efforts to Address Risks Posed by Changing Counterfeits Market"]
''U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO)'', January 2018 Utah Governor Jon Huntsman Jon Huntsman may refer to:
* Jon Huntsman Sr. (1937–2018), corporate executive and philanthropist (father of Jon Huntsman Jr.)
* Jon Huntsman Jr. (born 1960), U.S. politician and the former U.S. ambassador to Russia, China and Singapore
* John A. ...
, who had served as U.S. ambassador to China, stated, "The vast, illicit transfer of American innovation is one of the most significant economic issues impacting U.S. competitiveness that the nation has not fully addressed. It looks to be, must be, a top priority of the new administration."[ In March 2017 ]U.S. President
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
signed an executive order
In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of th ...
to, among other things, ensure the timely and efficient enforcement of laws protecting Intellectual Property Rights holders from imported counterfeit goods.[
An '' Outside'' magazine article in 2016 discussed the psychology of sales, and the role of gullible consumers, perhaps blindly ignoring warning signs of a "killer deal", somehow justifying buying an item they know is a fake.
]
Types
Online sales
In a report by the U.S. GAO
Gao , or Gawgaw/Kawkaw, is a city in Mali and the capital of the Gao Region. The city is located on the River Niger, east-southeast of Timbuktu on the left bank at the junction with the Tilemsi valley.
For much of its history Gao was an impor ...
in 2018, approximately 79 percent of the American population had bought products online.[ They found numerous products which were sold online by Amazon, Walmart, eBay, Sears and Newegg were counterfeit. For 2017 it was estimated that online sales of counterfeit products amounted to $1.7 trillion.]["One-Third of Online Shoppers Victims of Counterfeit Sales"]
''24/7 Wall St.'', December 18, 2017 Pew Research Center
The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan American think tank (referring to itself as a "fact tank") based in Washington, D.C.
It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the w ...
states that worldwide such e-commerce sales are expected to reach over $4 trillion by 2020. CBP CBP may refer to:
Business parks
* Cebu Business Park, a central business district in Cebu City, Philippines
* Changi Business Park, an eco-friendly industrial park in Singapore
* Chiswick Business Park, a business park in Gunnersbury, West London
...
has reported that with e-commerce, consumers often import and export goods and services which allows for more cross-border transactions which gives counterfeiters direct access to consumers.[
Internet sales of counterfeit goods has been growing exponentially, according to the ]International Trademark Association
The International Trademark Association is a global association of brand owners and professionals dedicated to trademarks and complementary intellectual property to foster consumer trust, economic growth, and innovation, and committed to building ...
, which lists a number of reasons why:
Buyers often know they were victimized from online sales, as over a third (34%) said they were victimized two or three times, and 11% said they had bought fake goods three to five times.[ While many online sellers such as Amazon are not legally responsible for selling counterfeit goods, when items are brought to their attention by a buyer, they will apply a takedown procedure and quickly remove the product listing from their website.]["Amazon May Have a Counterfeit Problem"]
''The Atlantic'', April 20, 2018
In buying counterfeit goods directly from other smaller sellers, location is becoming less a factor, since consumers can purchase products from all over the world and have them delivered straight to their doors by regular carriers, such as USPS, FedEx and UPS. Whereas in previous years international counterfeiters had to transport most counterfeits through large cargo shipments, criminals now can use small parcel mail to avoid most inspections.
Apparel and accessories
Ray-Ban, Rolex
Rolex SA () is a British-founded Swiss watch designer and manufacturer based in Geneva, Switzerland. Founded in 1905 as ''Wilsdorf and Davis'' by Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis in London, the company registered ''Rolex'' as the brand name of ...
, Supreme and Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French high-end Luxury goods, luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton (designer), Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its produc ...
are the most copied brands worldwide, with Nike being the most counterfeited brand globally according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Counterfeit clothes, shoes, jewelry and handbags from designer brands are made in varying quality; sometimes the intent is only to fool the gullible buyer who only looks at the label and does not know what the real thing looks like, while others put some serious effort into mimicking fashion details.
Others realize that most consumers do not care if the goods they buy are counterfeit and just wish to purchase inexpensive products. The popularity of designer jeans
Designer clothing is expensive luxury clothing considered to be high quality and haute couture for the general public, made by, or carrying the label of, a well-known fashion designer.
Brands
Designer clothing is not always created by the foun ...
in 1978, spurred a flood of knockoffs.
Factories that manufacture counterfeit designer brand garments and watches are usually located in developing countries, with between 85 and 95% of all counterfeit goods coming from China. International tourists visiting Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
, China, may find a wide selection of counterfeit designer brand garments at the Silk Street. Expensive watch
A watch is a portable timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. It is designed to keep a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is designed to be worn around the wrist, attached by ...
es are vulnerable to counterfeiting as well.
In Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines, authentic looking but poor quality watch fakes with self-winding mechanisms and fully working movements can sell for as little as US$20 to good quality ones that sell for $100 and over. Also, some fakes' movements and materials are of remarkably passable quality – albeit inconsistently so – and may look good and work well for some years, a possible consequence of increasing competition within the counterfeiting community.
Some counterfeiters have begun to manufacture their goods in the same factory as the authentic goods. ''Yuandan goods'' (原单) are those fakes that are produced in the same factory as legitimate designer pieces without authorized permission to do so. These goods are made from scraps and leftover materials from the genuine products, produced illegally, and sold on the black market.
Thailand has opened a Museum of Counterfeit Goods displaying over 4,000 different items, in 14 different categories, which violate trademarks, patents, or copyrights. The oldest museum of this kind is located in Paris and is known as Musée de la Contrefaçon
The Musée de la Contrefaçon is a museum of counterfeiting. It is located at 16, rue de la Faisanderie, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France, and open daily except Monday; an admission fee is charged. The nearest métro and RER stations ...
.
In fashion, counterfeit goods are called knock offs. These counterfeit goods are usually sold on markets and street corners. Though purchasing goods might be seemingly harmless to those who are purchasing it knowingly, they are actually funding more dangerous organizations. The National Fraud Intelligence Bureau in England, advices people not to buy counterfeit goods for serious reasons.
Intellectual property is a problem that seems to come up when talking about knock offs in fashion. There are a lot of arguments that talk about how it is stealing the brands logo and prints. On the other side of this argument, many designers believe that counterfeiting is a form of flattery. Virgil Abloh of OFF WHITE famously said, "you can’t copy something that isn’t wanted". Many fashion houses try and stop the knock offs from circulating, Louis Vuitton has an entire team that is just focused on stopping counterfeits. Gucci has adapted the counterfeit culture into its designs, changing the spelling of Gucci to Guccy for its spring summer 2018 collection and painting REAL all over the bags.
Consumers may choose to actively dismiss these unclear origins of product when a trendy style is available for little money. The previous French terrorist attack in 2015 at Charlie Hebdo Newspaper has been traced back to being funded by counterfeit product. According to Tommy Hilfiger's Alastair Grey, terrorists bought the guns used with funds gained from selling illegal luxury sneakers. This is more normal than consumers may think. Grey discusses how often sellers will be overlooked by watch-groups as buying fakes from a distributor in China is less suspicious than other, more extreme criminal activity. The cause and effect of this discounting of crime is giving sellers money to partake in terrorism, human trafficking and child labour. These sellers are difficult to track due to counterfeited shipping papers (they can not be tracked by customs) and fake brands masquerading as a non-descript fashion company that is actually full of fake luxury.
Goods have been brought into the United States without the logos adorned on them in order to get past customs. They are then finished within the country. This is due to the increase in seizing of product at borders. The counterfeiters are reactive to the increasing crackdown on the illegal business practice. Stock-rooms have been replaced with mobile shopping vans that are constantly moving and difficult to track.
Companies like Entrupy are determined to eradicate fake goods with an iPhone application and a standard small camera attachment which uses algorithms to detect even the most indistinguishable "super-fake". Online retailers are also having a difficult time keeping up with monitoring counterfeit items.
Companies all over the internet are illegal e-boutiques that use platforms like eBay, Instagram and Amazon to sell counterfeit goods. Sometimes they own their own websites that have untraceable IP addresses that are often changed. Instagram is a difficult platform to trace as sellers on it take WeChat, PayPal and Venmo and typically talk with clients on platforms like WhatsApp. This all makes the transactions seamless and hard to track since payment is done via third party. Listings are also often posted on the story feature, hence they are not permanent. The problem is getting larger according to Vox and is getting more difficult to monitor.
Amazon has recently partnered with company Project Zero to work with brands to find counterfeit objects on the site. This technology has given private users and companies the capability to gauge handbags certification. Within time, this technology will be widely adaptable to larger platforms. Project Zero offers Amazon partners to flag fake listings without Amazon having to step in. Since Amazon has over five billion listings, a computerized element is also crucial for keeping up with getting rid of fakes. This program scans items based on assets and codes that are provided by Amazon partners and deletes fake items.
Electronics
Counterfeit electronic components
Counterfeit electronic components are electronic parts whose origin or quality is deliberately misrepresented. Counterfeiting of electronic components can infringe the legitimate producer's trademark rights. Because counterfeit parts often have i ...
have proliferated in recent years, including integrated circuits
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Large numbers of tiny ...
(ICs), relays, circuit breakers, fuses, ground fault receptacles, and cable assemblies, as well as connectors. The value of counterfeit electronic components is estimated to total 2% of global sales or $460 billion in 2011.[ Counterfeit devices have been ]reverse-engineered
Reverse engineering (also known as backwards engineering or back engineering) is a process or method through which one attempts to understand through deductive reasoning how a previously made device, process, system, or piece of software accompli ...
(also called a Chinese Blueprint due to its prevalence in China) to produce a product that looks identical and performs like the original, and able to pass physical and electrical tests.[
Incidents involving counterfeit ICs has led to the ]Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to:
Current departments of defence
* Department of Defence (Australia)
* Department of National Defence (Canada)
* Department of Defence (Ireland)
* Department of National Defense (Philipp ...
and NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
to create programs to identify bogus parts and prevent them from entering the supply chain.[ "A failed connector can shut down a satellite as quickly as a defective IC," states product director Robert Hult.][
Such bogus electronics also pose a significant threat to various sectors of the economy, including the military.]["The Serious Risks From Counterfeit Electronic Parts"]
''Forbes'', July 11, 2012 In 2012 a U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee
The Committee on Armed Services (sometimes abbreviated SASC for ''Senate Armed Services Committee'') is a committee of the United States Senate empowered with legislative oversight of the nation's military, including the Department of Defe ...
report highlighted the risks when it identified approximately 1,800 cases of suspected counterfeit parts in the defense supply chain in 2009 and 2010.[
]
Counterfeit electronic parts can undermine the security and reliability of critical business systems, which can cause massive losses in revenue to companies and damage their reputation.[Tehranipoor, Mark. ''Counterfeit Integrated Circuits: Detection and Avoidance'', Springer (2015) p. 5] They can also pose major threats to health and safety, as when an implanted heart pacemaker stops,["Counterfeit Products On The Rise"]
Robert J. McGuirl Law Firm an anti-lock braking system (ABS) fails, or a cell phone battery explodes.
In 2017 the OECD
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate e ...
estimated that one in five (19%) of smartphones sold worldwide were counterfeit, with the numbers growing.["New Tricks Needed to Stop the €45 Billion Counterfeit Smartphone Market"]
''Developing Telecoms'', November 9, 2017 Alibaba founder Jack Ma
Jack Ma Yun (; born 10 September 1964) is a Chinese business magnate, investor and philanthropist. He is the co-founder and former executive chairman of Alibaba Group, a multinational technology conglomerate. In addition, he co-founded Yunfeng ...
said "we need to fight counterfeits the same way we fight drunk driving."[ In some African countries up to 60% of smartphones are counterfeit.][ Unfortunately, it is nearly impossible for most consumers to spot a fake since telling the difference requires a higher than average level of technical knowledge. Counterfeit phones cause financial losses for owners and distributors of legitimate devices, and a loss of tax income for governments. In addition, counterfeit phones are poorly made, can generate high radiation, contain harmful levels of dangerous elements such as lead, and have a high chance of including malware.][
]
Media
Compact Disc
The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then rele ...
s, videotape
Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog or digital signal. Videotape is used in both video tape recorders (VTRs) and, more commonly, videocassett ...
s and DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
s, computer software
Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work.
At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...
and other media that are easily copied can be counterfeited and sold through vendors at street market
A marketplace or market place is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a '' souk'' (from the Arabic), ' ...
s, night market
Night markets or night bazaars are street markets which operate at night and are generally dedicated to more leisurely strolling, shopping, and eating than more businesslike day markets. They are typically open-air markets popular in East Asia, Sou ...
s, mail order
Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as:
* Sending an order form in the mail
* Placing a telephone call
* Placing a ...
, and numerous Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
sources, including open auction sites like eBay
eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became a ...
. In some cases where the counterfeit media has packaging good enough to be mistaken for the genuine product, it is sometimes sold as such. Music enthusiasts may use the term ''bootleg recording
A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. Making and distributing such recordings is known as ''bootlegging''. Recordings may be copied and traded ...
'' to differentiate otherwise unavailable recordings from counterfeited copies of commercially released material.
In 2014, nearly 30% of the UK population was knowingly or unknowingly involved in some form of piracy, either through streaming content online or buying counterfeit DVDs, with such theft costing the UK audiovisual industries about £500m a year. Counterfeits are particularly harmful to smaller, independent film-makers, who may have spent years raising money for the film. As a result, the value of intellectual property becomes eroded and films are less likely to be made. In 2018, U.S. agents seized more than 70,000 pirated copies of music and movies from a home in Fresno, California. Although it was a relatively small portion of all imported counterfeits, according to one expert:
China has been targeted by the Motion Picture Association of America
The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distribu ...
(MPAA) for distributing pirated movies and television shows. A selection of websites, internet newsgroups, peer-to-peer online networks and physical locations renowned for sharing illegal content, were presented to officials. Other countries were also listed as sources, including Russia, Brazil, Canada, Thailand and Indonesia. In August 2011, it was reported that at least 22 fake Apple Stores were operating in parts of China, despite others having been shut down in the past by authorities at other locations. The following month, also in China, it was discovered that people were attempting to recreate the popular Angry Birds franchise into a theme park (see here
See or SEE may refer to:
* Sight - seeing
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Music:
** ''See'' (album), studio album by rock band The Rascals
*** "See", song by The Rascals, on the album ''See''
** "See" (Tycho song), song by Tycho
* Television
* ...
) without permission from its Finnish copyright/trademark owners.
3D printed products
Counterfeiting of countless items with either large or relatively cheap 3D printers, is a growing problem. The sophisticated printing material and the ever-expanding supply of digital CAD designs available online, will contribute to a black market in counterfeit goods. The Gartner Group
Gartner, Inc is a technological research and consulting firm based in Stamford, Connecticut that conducts research on technology and shares this research both through private consulting as well as executive programs and conferences. Its clients ...
estimated that intellectual property loss due to 3D printer counterfeiting could total $100 billion by 2018.["Illegal, Immoral, and Here to Stay Counterfeiting and the 3D Printing Revolution"]
''Wired'', February 20, 2015 Among the technological fields that can be victimized by counterfeits will be auto and aircraft parts, toys, medical devices, drugs and even human organs. According to one intellectual property law firm:
Along with making illicit parts for almost any major product, the fashion industry has become a major target of counterfeiters using 3D printing. The OHIM
The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO; french: links=no, Office de l'Union européenne pour la propriété intellectuelle), founded in 1994, is the European Union Agency responsible for the registration of the European Union trad ...
in 2017 found that approximately 10% of fashion products sold worldwide are counterfeits, amounting to approximately $28.5 billion of lost revenues per year in Europe alone. Industry leaders feared that budding counterfeiters would soon be creating bags, apparel and jewelry at a lower production cost after gaining access to pirated blueprints or digital files from manufacturers.
Toys
Counterfeit toys leave children exposed to potentially toxic chemicals and the risk of choking. An estimated 10 to 12 per cent of toys sold in the UK in 2017 were counterfeit, with the influx of counterfeit goods coming primarily from China. Trading Standards, a UK safety organization, seizes tens of thousands of toys every month to prevent children coming into contact with them, according to the British Toy and Hobby Association (BTHA).
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
n toy manufacturer Moose Toys
Moose Toys (or Moose Enterprises or Moose Creative Management Pty Ltd or The Moose Group) is an Australian-owned toy design, development and distribution company founded in 1985. Moose is headquartered in Australia, has over 600 staff and dist ...
have experienced problems with counterfeiting of their popular Shopkins
Real Littles, formerly and also called Shopkins, are a range of tiny, collectable toys manufactured by Moose Toys. Based on grocery store items, each plastic figure has a recognisable face and unique name. They also have special finishes like t ...
toys in 2015. In 2013, five New York-based companies were accused of importing hazardous and counterfeit toys from China. Merchandise seized included knockoff toys featuring popular children's characters such as Winnie the Pooh
Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear and Pooh, is a fictional Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard.
The first collection of stories about the character w ...
, Dora the Explorer
''Dora the Explorer'' is an American children's animated television series and multimedia franchise created by Chris Gifford, Valerie Walsh Valdes and Eric Weiner that premiered on Nickelodeon on August 14, 2000, went on hiatus on June 5, 20 ...
, SpongeBob SquarePants
''SpongeBob SquarePants'' (or simply ''SpongeBob'') is an American animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It chronicles the adventures of the title character a ...
, Betty Boop
Betty Boop is an animated cartoon character created by Max Fleischer, with help from animators including Grim Natwick.Pointer (2017) She originally appeared in the ''Talkartoon'' and ''Betty Boop'' film series, which were produced by Fleischer ...
, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' is an American media franchise created by the comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Michelangelo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Miche ...
, Power Rangers
''Power Rangers'' is an entertainment and merchandising franchise built around a live-action superhero television series, based on the Japanese tokusatsu franchise ''Super Sentai''. Produced first by Saban Entertainment, second by BVS Entert ...
, Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the ...
, Tweety
Tweety is a yellow canary in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of animated cartoons. The name "Tweety" is a play on words, as it originally meant "sweetie", along with "tweet" being an English onomatopoeia for t ...
, Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is an animated cartoon Character (arts), character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red sho ...
, Lightning McQueen
Montgomery "Lightning" McQueen is a fictional anthropomorphic stock car who is the protagonist of the animated Pixar franchise '' Cars'', primarily voiced by actor Owen Wilson. His appearances include the feature films '' Cars'', ''Cars 2'', and ...
? and Pokémon
(an abbreviation for in Japan) is a Japanese media franchise managed by The Pokémon Company, founded by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures (company), Creatures, the owners of the trademark and copyright of the franchise.
In terms of ...
. In 2017, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection
United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the largest federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security. It is the country's primary border control organization, charged with regulating and facilit ...
seized $121,442 worth of counterfeit children's toys that arrived into port from China and was destined for a North Carolina-based importer. The shipment was found to contain multiple items bearing trademarks and copyrights registered to Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...
, Saban Brands
Saban Capital Group LLC is an American investment firm based in Los Angeles, California focused on media, entertainment, and communications investments. Formed in 2010 by Haim Saban, Saban Capital Group owns Saban Films, part of Univision Commu ...
, and Danjaq
Danjaq, LLC (formerly Danjaq S.A. and Danjaq, Inc.) is the holding company responsible for the copyright and trademarks to the characters, elements, and other material related to James Bond on screen. It is currently owned and managed by the fami ...
, LLC.
Pharmaceuticals
According to the U.S. FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
, the counterfeiting of pharmaceuticals accounts for an estimated $600 billion in global trade, and may be the "crime of the 21st century." They add that it "poses significant adverse health and economic consequences for individuals and corporations alike." The World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...
(WHO) estimates that over 30% of pharmaceuticals in developing countries are fake, stating that "Anyone, anywhere in the world, can come across medicines seemingly packaged in the right way but which do not contain the correct ingredients and, in the worst-case scenario, may be filled with highly toxic substances."
About one-third of the world's countries lack effective drug regulatory agencies, which makes them easy prey for counterfeiters. Globally, more than half of counterfeit pharmaceuticals sold are for life-threatening conditions, such as malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, and cancer.[ An estimated one million people die each year from taking toxic counterfeit medication.][
With the increase of internet sales, such fake drugs easily cross international boundaries and can be sold directly to unsuspecting buyers. In September 2017, Interpol, after a 10-year investigation, took down 3,584 websites in various countries, removed 3,000 online ads promoting illicit pharmaceuticals, and arrested 400 people.][
The majority of online pharmacies taken down did not require a prescription to order the medicines and most sold potentially dangerous bogus versions of real drugs. One target for the operation was the illicit trade in opioid painkillers, especially ]fentanyl
Fentanyl, also spelled fentanil, is a very potent synthetic opioid used as a pain medication. Together with other drugs, fentanyl is used for anesthesia. It is also used illicitly as a recreational drug, sometimes mixed with heroin, cocaine ...
, which is 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine. Counterfeit versions of other narcotics like OxyContin
Oxycodone, sold under various brand names such as Roxicodone and OxyContin (which is the extended release form), is a strong, semi-synthetic opioid used medically for treatment of moderate to severe pain. It is highly addictive and a commonly ...
and Percocet
Oxycodone/paracetamol, sold under the brand name Percocet among others, is a fixed-dose combination of the opioid oxycodone with paracetamol (acetaminophen), used to treat moderate to severe pain.
In 2020, it was the 69th most commonly prescri ...
also contain fentanyl as a key ingredient. Online pharmacies had flooded the US market and contributed to the opioid epidemic
The opioid epidemic, also referred to as the opioid crisis, is the rapid increase in the overuse, misuse/abuse, and overdose deaths attributed either in part or in whole to the class of drugs opiates/opioids since the 1990s. It includes the sign ...
,["Latest Interpol-led Pangea op nets rogue pharmacies"]
''Securing Industry'', September 26, 2017 with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgi ...
(CDC) claiming that sixty-six percent (66%) of the 63,600 overdose deaths in 2016 were caused by opioids, including fentanyl. The Drug Enforcement Administration
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA; ) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within th ...
(DEA) found that "customers can purchase fentanyl products from Chinese laboratories online with powdered fentanyl and pill presses" which are then shipped directly to buyers via regular mail services such as USPS, DHL, FedEx, and UPS.["Combatting the Opioid Crisis: Exploiting Vulnerabilities in International Mail"]
Report of the Committee on Homeland Security, January 24, 2018
Buyers are attracted to rogue online pharmacies since they pose as legitimate businesses. Consumers are motivated by lower prices, and some are attracted by the ability to obtain prescription drugs without a prescription. Of the drugs bought online, however, 90 percent are found to come from a country different from one the website claims.[ A 2018 report by the ]DHS
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-ter ...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respon ...
(FDA) defines counterfeit drugs as those sold under a product name without proper authorization:
:"Counterfeiting can apply to both brand name and generic products, where the identity of the source is mislabeled in a way that suggests that it is the authentic approved product. Counterfeit products may include products without the active ingredient, with an insufficient or excessive quantity of the active ingredient, with the wrong active ingredient, or with fake packaging."["Counterfeit Drugs Questions and Answers"]
FDA
According to ''The Economist
''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...
'', between 15%-30% of antibiotic
An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the treatment and prevention of ...
drugs in Africa and South-East Asia are fake, while the UN estimated in 2013 that roughly half of the antimalarial drugs
Antimalarial medications or simply antimalarials are a type of antiparasitic chemical agent, often natural product, naturally derived, that can be used to treat or to prevent malaria, in the latter case, most often aiming at two susceptible target ...
sold in Africa—worth some $438m a year—are counterfeit. In early 2018 29 tons in counterfeit medicine were seized by Interpol
The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...
in Niger
)
, official_languages =
, languages_type = National languages[Pfizer Pharmaceuticals
Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfizer ...](_blank)
has found fake versions of at least 20 of its products, such as Viagra
Sildenafil, sold under the brand name Viagra, among others, is a medication used to treat erectile dysfunction and pulmonary arterial hypertension. It is unclear if it is effective for treating sexual dysfunction in women. It is taken by ...
and Lipitor
Atorvastatin is a statin medication used to prevent cardiovascular disease in those at high risk and to treat abnormal lipid levels. For the prevention of cardiovascular disease, statins are a first-line treatment. It is taken by mouth.
Common ...
, in the legitimate supply chains of at least 44 countries. Pfizer also found that nearly 20% of Europeans had obtained medicines through illicit channels, amounting to $12.8 billion in sales. Other experts estimate the global market for fake medications could be worth between $75 billion and $200 billion a year, as of 2010.["Poison pills"]
''Economist'' magazine, September 2, 2010
Other prescription drugs that have been counterfeited are Plavix
Clopidogrel — sold under the brand name Plavix, among others — is an antiplatelet medication used to reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke in those at high risk. It is also used together with aspirin in heart attacks and following th ...
, used to treat blood clots, Zyprexa
Olanzapine (sold under the trade name Zyprexa among others) is an atypical antipsychotic primarily used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. For schizophrenia, it can be used for both new-onset disease and long-term maintenance. It is ta ...
for schizophrenia, Casodex
Bicalutamide, sold under the brand name Casodex among others, is an antiandrogen medication that is primarily used to treat prostate cancer. It is typically used together with a gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analogue or surgical remo ...
, used to treat prostate cancer, Tamiflu
Oseltamivir, sold under the brand name Tamiflu, is an antiviral medication used to treat and prevent influenza A and influenza B, viruses that cause the flu. Many medical organizations recommend it in people who have complications or are at hig ...
, used to treat influenza, including Swine flu
Swine influenza is an infection caused by any of several types of swine influenza viruses. Swine influenza virus (SIV) or swine-origin influenza virus (S-OIV) refers to any strain of the influenza family of viruses that is endemic in pigs. As ...
, and Aricept, used to treat Alzheimers
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As t ...
. The EU reported that as of 2005 India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
was by far the biggest supplier of fake drugs, accounting for 75 percent of the global cases of counterfeit medicine. However, many drugs and other consumer products that were supposedly made in India, were actually made in China and imported into India.
Another 7% came from Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
and 6% from China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. Those involved in their production and distribution include "medical professionals" such as corrupt pharmacists and physicians, organized crime syndicates, rogue pharmaceutical companies, corrupt local and national officials, and terrorist organizations.[
]
Food
Food fraud, "the intentional adulteration of food with cheaper ingredients for economic gain," is a well-documented crime that has existed in the U.S. and Europe for many decades. It has only received more attention in recent years as the fear of bioterrorism
Bioterrorism is terrorism involving the intentional release or dissemination of biological agents. These agents are bacteria, viruses, insects, fungi, and/or toxins, and may be in a naturally occurring or a human-modified form, in much the same ...
has increased. Numerous cases of intentional food fraud have been discovered over the last few years. As of 2013, the foods most commonly listed as adulterated or mislabelled in the United States Pharmacopeia
The ''United States Pharmacopeia'' (''USP'') is a pharmacopeia (compendium of drug information) for the United States published annually by the United States Pharmacopeial Convention (usually also called the USP), a nonprofit organization that ...
Convention's Food Fraud Database were: milk, olive oil, honey, saffron, fish, coffee, orange juice, apple juice, black pepper, and tea. A 2014 report by the U.S. Congressional Research Service
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a public policy research institute of the United States Congress. Operating within the Library of Congress, it works primarily and directly for members of Congress and their committees and staff on a c ...
listed the leading food categories with reported cases of fraud as olive oil; fish and seafood; milk and milk-based products; honey, maple syrup, and other natural sweeteners; fruit juice; coffee and tea; spices; organic foods and products; and clouding agents.
United States
* In 2008, U.S. consumers were "panicked" and a "media firestorm" ensued when Chinese milk was discovered to have been adulterated
An adulterant is caused by the act of adulteration, a practice of secretly mixing a substance with another. Typical substances that are adulterated include but are not limited to food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, fuel, or other chemicals, th ...
with the chemical melamine
Melamine is an organic compound with the formula C3H6N6. This white solid is a trimer of cyanamide, with a 1,3,5-triazine skeleton. Like cyanamide, it contains 67% nitrogen by mass, and its derivatives have fire retardant properties due t ...
, to make milk appear to have a higher protein content in government tests. It caused 900 infants to be hospitalized and resulted in six deaths.[
* In 2007, the ]University of North Carolina
The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...
found that 77 percent of fish labeled as red snapper
Red snapper is a common name of several fish species. It may refer to:
* Several species from the genus ''Lutjanus'':
** ''Lutjanus campechanus'', Northern red snapper, commonly referred to as red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico and western Atlanti ...
was actually tilapia
Tilapia ( ) is the common name for nearly a hundred species of cichlid fish from the coelotilapine, coptodonine, heterotilapine, oreochromine, pelmatolapiine, and tilapiine tribes (formerly all were "Tilapiini"), with the economically most ...
, a common and less flavorful species. The ''Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...
'' tested fish at 17 sushi restaurants found that fish being sold as red snapper actually was mostly tilapia. Other inspections uncovered catfish
Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive, ...
being sold as grouper
Groupers are fish of any of a number of genera in the subfamily Epinephelinae of the family Serranidae, in the order Perciformes.
Not all serranids are called "groupers"; the family also includes the sea basses. The common name "grouper" is u ...
, which normally sells for nearly twice as much as catfish.[ Fish is the most frequently faked food Americans buy, which includes "...selling a cheaper fish, such as pen-raised Atlantic salmon, as wild Alaska salmon." In one test, ]Consumer Reports
Consumer Reports (CR), formerly Consumers Union (CU), is an American nonprofit consumer organization dedicated to independent product testing, investigative journalism, consumer-oriented research, public education, and consumer advocacy.
Founded ...
found that less than half of supposedly "wild-caught" salmon
Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...
sold in 2005-2006 were actually wild, and the rest were farmed
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...
.[
* French ]cognac
Cognac ( , also , ) is a variety of brandy named after the Communes of France, commune of Cognac, France. It is produced in the surrounding wine-growing region in the Departments of France, departments of Charente and Charente-Maritime.
Cog ...
was discovered to have been adulterated with brandy, and their honey was mixed with cheaper sugars, such as high-fructose corn syrup
High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), also known as glucose–fructose, isoglucose and glucose–fructose syrup, is a sweetener made from corn starch. As in the production of conventional corn syrup, the starch is broken down into glucose by enzym ...
.[
* In 2008, U.S. food safety officers seized more than 10,000 cases of counterfeit ]extra virgin olive oil
Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained from olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea''; family Oleaceae), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin, produced by pressing whole olives and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking: f ...
, worth more than $700,000 from warehouses in New York and New Jersey. Olive oil is considered one of the most frequently counterfeited food products, according to the FDA, with one study finding that many products labeled as "extra-virgin olive oil" actually contained up to 90% soybean oil.["Something fishy? Counterfeit foods enter the U.S. market"]
''USA Today'', January 23, 2009
* From 2010 until 2012, the conservation group Oceana analyzed 1,200 seafood samples from 674 retail outlets in 21 U.S. states. A third of the samples contained the DNA of a different type of fish to the one stated on the product label. They found that fish with high levels of mercury such as tilefish
250px, Blue blanquillo, ''Malacanthus latovittatus''
Tilefishes are mostly small perciform marine fish comprising the family Malacanthidae. They are usually found in sandy areas, especially near coral reefs.
Commercial fisheries exist for th ...
and king mackerel
The king mackerel (''Scomberomorus cavalla'') or kingfish, is a migratory species of mackerel of the western Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. It is an important species to both the commercial and recreational fishing industries.
Description
T ...
were being passed off as relatively safe fish like grouper
Groupers are fish of any of a number of genera in the subfamily Epinephelinae of the family Serranidae, in the order Perciformes.
Not all serranids are called "groupers"; the family also includes the sea basses. The common name "grouper" is u ...
. Snapper (87%) and tuna (59%) were the most commonly mislabeled species.
* Genetic testing by the ''Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'' in 2011 found widespread mislabelling of fish served in area restaurants.
The Food and Drug Administration
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respon ...
, the primary regulatory body for food safety and enforcement in the United States, admits that the "sheer magnitude of the potential crime" makes prevention difficult, along with the fact that food safety is not treated as a high priority. They note that with more than 300 ports of entry through which 13 percent of America's food supply passes, the FDA is only able to inspect about two percent of that food.[
New U.S. seafood tracing regulations were announced by the ]National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...
in 2015.
Europe
Food counterfeiting is a serious threat in Europe, especially for countries with a high number of trademark products such as Italy. In 2005, EU customs seized more than 75 million counterfeited goods, including foods, medicines and other goods, partly due to Internet sales. More than five million counterfeit food-related items, including drinks and alcohol products, were seized. According to the EU's taxation and customs commissioner, "A secret wave of dangerous fakes is threatening the people in Europe."["Counterfeit food a 'serious threat' says EC"]
MeatProcess.com, November 13, 2006
Incidents:
The 2008 Irish pork crisis
The Irish pork crisis of 2008 was a dioxin contamination incident in Ireland that led to an international recall of pork products from Ireland produced between September and early December of that year. It was disclosed in early December 2008 ...
was pork contaminated with dioxin
Dioxin may refer to:
* 1,2-Dioxin or 1,4-Dioxin, two unsaturated heterocyclic 6-membered rings where two carbon atoms have been replaced by oxygen atoms, giving the molecular formula C4H4O2
*Dibenzo-1,4-dioxin, the parent compound also known as ...
s.
The 2013 horse meat scandal was a multinational incident involving horse meat (and pork) being found in food products that were labelled as only containing beef.
The 2013 European aflatoxin contamination scandal involved milk contaminated with aflatoxin
Aflatoxins are various poisonous carcinogens and mutagens that are produced by certain molds, particularly ''Aspergillus'' species. The fungi grow in soil, decaying vegetation and various staple foodstuffs and commodities such as hay, sweetcorn ...
s.
Wine
In China, counterfeit high-end wines are a growing beverage industry segment, where fakes are sold to Chinese consumers. Knock-off artists refill empty bottles from famous chateaux with inferior vintages. According to one source, "Upwardly mobile Chinese, eager to display their wealth and sophistication, have since developed a taste for imported wine along with other foreign luxuries." In China, wine consumption more than doubled since 2005, making China the seventh-largest market in the world.
The methods used to dupe innocent consumers includes photocopying labels, creating different and phony chateaux names on the capsule and the label. Sometimes authentic bottles are used but another wine is added by using a syringe
A syringe is a simple reciprocating pump consisting of a plunger (though in modern syringes, it is actually a piston) that fits tightly within a cylindrical tube called a barrel. The plunger can be linearly pulled and pushed along the inside ...
.
The problem is so widespread in China, the U.S. and Europe, that auction house Christie's
Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is ...
has begun smashing empty bottles with a hammer to prevent them from entering the black market. During one sale in 2008, a French vintner was "shocked to discover that '106 bottles out of 107' were fakes." According to one source, counterfeit French wines sold locally and abroad "could take on a much more serious amplitude in Asia because the market is developing at a dazzling speed." Vintners are either unable or hesitant to fight such counterfeiters: "There are no funds. Each lawsuit costs 500,000 euros," states one French vintner. In addition, some vintners, like product and food manufacturers, prefer to avoid any publicity regarding fakes to avoid injuring their brand names.
Counterfeit wine is also found in the West, although primarily a problem for collectors of rare wine. Famous examples of counterfeiting include the case of Hardy Rodenstock
Hardy Rodenstock (7 December 1941 in Kwidzyn, Marienwerder (Kwidzyn) – 19 May 2018 in Oberaudorf; legal name Meinhard Görke) was a Music publisher (popular music), publisher and manager of Pop music, pop and Schlager music in Germany and a pro ...
, who was involved with the so-called "Jefferson bottles,"[The New Yorker, September 3, 2007: The Jefferson Bottles](_blank)
p. 2 and Rudy Kurniawan
Rudy Kurniawan (born 10 October 1976, in Jakarta, Indonesia) is an Indonesian convicted criminal and perpetrator of wine fraud.
He was found to be offering more magnums of the limited edition 1947 Château Lafleur than had been produced, and ...
, who was indicted in March 2012 for attempting to sell faked bottles of La Tâche from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti
Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, often abbreviated to DRC, is an estate in Burgundy, France that produces white and red wine. It is widely considered among the world's greatest wine producers, and DRC bottles are among the world's most expensive. ...
and Clos St. Denis from Domaine Ponsot
Domaine Ponsot is a wine producer in Burgundy, France that produces white and red wine. They are best known for their Morey-Saint-Denis Blanc 1er cru Clos des Monts Luisants — the only ''premier cru'' Burgundy made entirely from Aligoté — ...
. In both cases, the victims of the fraud were high-end wine collectors, including Bill Koch, who sued both Rodenstock and Kurniawan over fake wines sold both at auction
An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...
and privately.
Cosmetics
U.S. Customs and Border Protection suggest that the cosmetic industry is losing about $75 million annually based on the amount of imitation products that are smuggled into the U.S. each year. In addition to the lost revenue, cosmetics brands are damaged when consumers experience unhealthy side effects, such as eye infections or allergic reactions, from counterfeit products.[
Customs agents seized more than 2,000 shipments of counterfeit beauty products in 2016, and noted that fake personal care items were more common than knockoff handbags. One of the biggest threats to beauty consumers is the risk that they are buying counterfeit products on familiar 3rd party retail platforms like Amazon.]["Fake makeup can be an easy buy – and a health hazard"]
''CBS'', December 6, 2017
Cigarettes
Illicit cigarettes are an example of the multi-pronged threat of counterfeiting, providing hundreds of millions of dollars per year to terrorist groups Counterfeit cigarettes cost taxpayer
A taxpayer is a person or organization (such as a company) subject to pay a tax. Modern taxpayers may have an Taxpayer Identification Number, identification number, a reference number issued by a government to Citizenship, citizens or Company, f ...
s in every nation billions in lost revenues while foisting on an unsuspecting public a product found to contain toxic substances like faeces
Feces ( or faeces), known colloquially and in slang as poo and poop, are the solid or semi-solid remains of food that was not digested in the small intestine, and has been broken down by bacteria in the large intestine. Feces contain a relati ...
, asbestos
Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...
and dead flies
Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...
.
The harm arising from this amalgam of contamination, contaminants sits on top of any baseline hazard ascribed to commercial tobacco products. With the sales of illicit cigarettes in Turkey, for example, exceeding 16.2 billion cigarettes per year, Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan labeled counterfeit tobacco as "more dangerous than terrorism".
Military items
According to a U.S. Senate committee report in 2012 and reported by ABC News, "counterfeit electronic parts from China are 'flooding' into critical U.S. military systems, including special operations helicopters and surveillance planes, and are putting the nation's troops at risk." The report notes that Chinese companies take discarded electronic parts from other nations, remove any identifying marks, wash and refurbish them, and then resell them as brand-new – "a practice that poses a significant risk to the performance of U.S. military systems.["Counterfeit Chinese Parts Slipping Into U.S. Military Aircraft: Report"]
''ABC News'', May 22, 2012["Senate Armed Services Committee Releases Report on Counterfeit Electronic Parts"]
, U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee Report, May 21, 2012
It must be noted in this case however that it is usually not the components themselves which are counterfeit: they have in most instances been fabricated by the expected manufacturer or by a licensee who has paid for the appropriate intellectual property. Rather, what is fraudulent is the issuing by the reseller of a Certificate of Conformity that claims that their provenance is traceable, sometimes accompanied by the components being remarked to make it appear that they have been manufactured and tested to more stringent standards than is actually the case.
There have, however, been situations where components have been fully counterfeit. A fairly typical example is that of USB to Serial port "dongles" ostensibly manufactured by FTDI, Prolific and others which in practice contain a general-purpose microcontroller which has been programmed to implement the same programming interface to a greater or lesser extent. Another example is that of electrolytic capacitors which have been sold as originating from a highly regarded manufacturer but in practice are merely shells which contain a lower-specification (and physically smaller) component internally.
Other counterfeit product categories
These include items which purport to be original art, designer watches, designer china, accessories such as sunglasses and handbags, and all varieties of antiques. In some cases the copying process has proceeded through several vendors, and it is possible to see gradual changes as the chain of "counterfeits of counterfeits" progresses.
These products frequently show up for sale on online sites such as Amazon and eBay. Efforts to report them as fraudulent receive little response.
Enforcement
United States
On November 29, 2010, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security seized and shut down 82 websites as part of a U.S. crackdown of websites that sell counterfeit goods, and was timed to coincide with "Cyber Monday," the start of the holiday online shopping season.["U.S. Shutters 82 Sites in Crackdown on Downloads, Counterfeit Goods"]
''Wired'' magazine, November 29, 2010 Attorney General Eric Holder announced that "by seizing these domain names, we have disrupted the sale of thousands of counterfeit items, while also cutting off funds to those willing to exploit the ingenuity of others for their own personal gain."["Federal Courts Order Seizure of 82 Website Domains"]
U.S. Dept. of Justice Press Release, November 29, 2010 Members of Congress proposed a PROTECT IP Act to block access to foreign Web sites offering counterfeit goods.
Some U.S. politicians are proposing to fine those who buy counterfeit goods, such as those sold in New York's Canal Street market. In Europe, France has already created stiff sentences for sellers or buyers, with punishments up to 3 years in prison and a $300,000 fine. Also in Europe, non-profit organizations such as the European Anti-Counterfeiting Network, fight the global trade in counterfeit goods.
During a counterfeit bust in New York in 2007, federal police, with the help of local Private Investigator Ray Dowd, seized $200 million in fake designer clothing, shoes, and accessories from one of the largest-ever counterfeit smuggling rings. Labels seized included Chanel, Nike, Inc., Nike, Burberry, Polo, Ralph Lauren Corporation, Ralph Lauren and Baby Phat. Counterfeit goods are a "...major plague for fashion and luxury brands," and numerous companies have made legal efforts to block the sale of counterfeits from China. Many of the goods are sold to retail outlets in Brooklyn and Queens.
For trademark owners wishing to identify and prevent the importation of counterfeit goods, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection
United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the largest federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security. It is the country's primary border control organization, charged with regulating and facilit ...
agency supports a supplemental registration of trademarks through their Intellectual Property Rights e-Recordation program. In 2017 U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to, among other things, ensure the timely and efficient enforcement of laws protecting Intellectual Property Rights holders from imported counterfeit goods.["Presidential Executive Order on Establishing Enhanced Collection and Enforcement of Antidumping and Countervailing Duties and Violations of Trade and Customs Laws"]
''Whitehouse.gov'', March 31, 2017
Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)
In October 2011, a bill was introduced entitled Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). If the bill had been passed, it would have expanded the ability of U.S. law enforcement and copyright holders to fight online trafficking in copyrighted intellectual property and counterfeit goods. The bill would have allowed the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as copyright holders, to seek court orders against websites accused of enabling or facilitating copyright infringement. Opponents of the bill stated that it could have crippled the Internet through selective censorship and limiting free speech. In regards to the bill, the Obama administration stressed that "the important task of protecting intellectual property online must not threaten an open and innovative internet." The legislation was later withdrawn by its author, Rep. Lamar Smith.
International
On October 1, 2011, the governments of eight nations including Japan and the United States signed the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), which is designed to help protect intellectual property rights, especially costly copyright and trademark theft. The signing took place a year after diligent negotiations among 11 governments: Australia, Canada, the European Union, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland and the United States. The European Union, EU, Mexico, Switzerland and China have not yet signed the agreement. Due to the latter, critics evaluated the agreement as insubstantial.
In China counterfeiting is so deeply rooted that crackdowns on shops selling counterfeit cause public protests during which the authorities are derided as "bourgeois puppets of foreigners."
Countries like Nigeria fight brand trademark infringement on a national level but the penalties are dwarfed by the earnings outlook for counterfeiters: "As grievous as this crime is, which is even worse than armed robbery, the penalty is like a slap on the palm, the most ridiculous of which is a fine of 50,000 naira ($307). Any offender would gladly pay this fine and return to business the next day."
In early 2018 Interpol
The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...
confiscated tonnes of fake products worth $25 million and arrested hundreds of suspects and broke up organized crime networks in 36 different countries on four continents. They raided markets, chemists, retail outlets, warehouses and border control points, where they seized among other things, pharmaceuticals, food, vehicle parts, tobacco products, clothing, and agrochemicals. Over 7.2 million counterfeit and illicit items weighing more than 120 tonnes were confiscated.
Human rights laws
Counterfeit products are often produced in violation of basic human rights and child labor laws and human rights laws, as they are often created in illegal sweatshops.["Counterfeiting: Many Risks and Many Victims"]
''CNBC'', July 13, 2010 Clothing manufacturers often rely on sweatshops using children in what some consider "slave labor" conditions. According to one organization, there are some 3,000 such sweatshops in and around Buenos Aires, Argentina. Author Dana Thomas described the conditions she witnessed in other country's sweatshops, noting that children workers are often smuggled into countries and sold into labor:
U.S. Supreme Court justice Sonia Sotomayor, who has tried to prosecute counterfeiters, notes that major industries have suffered the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs due to the exploitation of child labor in sweatshops in New York and Asia. Those often produce dangerous merchandise, such as fake auto parts or toys, made of toxic and easily breakable materials.[Felix, Antonia. ''Sonia Sotomayor: The True American Dream'', Penguin (2010) e-book]
The profits often support terrorist groups, drug cartels, people smugglers and organized crime, street gangs. The FBI has found evidence that a portion of the financing of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing came from a store selling counterfeit T-shirts.[ The same has been found surrounding many other organized crime activities. According to Bruce Foucart, director of US Homeland Security's National Intellectual Property Coordination Centre, the sales of counterfeit goods funded the Charlie Hebdo attack of 2016 in Paris, which left 12 people dead and nearly a dozen more injured.] Sales of pirated CDs have been linked to funding the 2004 Madrid train bombing, and investigations firm Carratu connects money from counterfeit goods to Hezbollah, Al Qaeda, the Japanese Yakuza, the ETA, and the Russian Mob.
The crackdown on counterfeit goods has not only become a matter of human rights but one of national and international security in various countries. The FBI has called product counterfeiting "the crime of the 21st century."["MSU LAUNCHES FIRST ANTI-COUNTERFEITING RESEARCH PROGRAM"](_blank)
''MSU Today'', Michigan State University, February 8, 2010
Internet shopping sites
Major Internet shopping sites, such as Amazon.com, eBay.com, and Alibaba.com, provide complaint pages where listings of counterfeit goods can be reported. The reporter must show that it owns the intellectual property (e.g. trademark, patent, copyright) being presented on the counterfeit listings. The shopping site will then do an internal investigation and if it agrees, it will take the counterfeit listing down. The actual execution of such investigations, at least, on Amazon and eBay, seems to be limited in reality.
Social media platforms
Besides, online market sites, the shift to digital for luxury and consumer goods have led to both promising opportunities and serious risks. The British government, released a study, ''Social Media and Luxury Goods Counterfeit'', stating 1/5 of all items tagged with luxury good brand names on Instagram are fakes, with 20% of the posts featured counterfeit goods from accounts, usually based in China, Russia, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Ukraine. ''It also highlights the scale, impact, and characteristics of infringement, and that sophistication from counterfeiters continues to grow through social media platforms.'' In 2016, in a span of 3-day period, Instagram has identified 20,892 fake accounts selling counterfeit goods, collectively responsible for 14.5 million posts, 146,958 new images and gaining 687,817 new followers, with Chanel (13.90%), Prada (9.69%) and Louis Vuitton (8.51%) being the top affected brands, according to ''Social Media and Luxury Goods Counterfeit: a growing concern for government, industry and consumers worldwide'' study from The Washington Post.
Social media and mobile applications have turned into ideal platforms for transactions and trades. Counterfeit users and sellers would set up online accounts on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook and post counterfeit or illicit products through ways of sponsored ads and deals. The consumer can easily contact buyers and purchase the counterfeit goods unknowingly, by email, WhatsApp, WeChat, and PayPal. As social media watchdogs and groups are working on cracking and shutting down accounts selling counterfeit goods, counterfeiters continue to operate 24 hours, with advanced systems in algorithms, artificial intelligence, and spambots, also tactics involving automatic account creation, avoid in detection and tax-and-duty-free law. It is advised by many that brands, tech platforms, governments and consumers require a comprehensive strategy and cross-sector collaboration to combat the multifaceted system enabling the international counterfeit market.
So far, only United Kingdom, Scotland and Erie representatives have taken the initiatives by using law enforcement and criminal charges to fight against counterfeiting and piracy on social media accounts. This concern still needs tremendous effort in updating its enforcement policies in online counterfeiting, below are some emerging solutions suggested by World Trademark Review:
* Social media surveillance – New technical filters and deploy further resources; engaging in open information sharing; and promoting broader awareness in public campaigns
* Continued enforcement measures – Rogue website actions; customs training and cooperation with law enforcement; and addressing counterfeit goods at the source
* Reinforce in postal service – advance data screening for mail parcels and shipments
* Adopting a set of best practices in payment processors
* Collaborate with third-party cooperation for reliance
Anti-counterfeiting packaging
Packaging can be engineered to help reduce the risks of package pilferage or the theft and resale of products: Some package constructions are more resistant to pilferage and some have pilfer indicating seals. Counterfeit consumer goods, unauthorized sales (diversion), material substitution and tampering can all be reduced with these anti-counterfeiting technologies. Packages may include authentication seals and use security printing to help indicate that the package and contents are not counterfeit; these too are subject to counterfeiting. Packages also can include anti-theft devices, such as dye-packs, Radio-frequency identification, RFID tags, or electronic article surveillanceHow Anti-shoplifting Devices Work"
HowStuffWorks.com tags that can be activated or detected by devices at exit points and require specialized tools to deactivate. Anti-counterfeiting technologies that can be used with packaging include:
*2D barcodes - data codes that can be tracked
*Color shifting ink or film - visible marks that switch colors or texture when tilted
*DNA tracking - genes embedded onto labels that can be traced
*Encrypted micro-particles - unpredictably placed markings (numbers, layers, and colors) not visible to the human eye
*Forensic markers
*Holograms - graphics printed on seals, patches, foils or labels and used at point of sale for visual verification
*Kinetic diffraction grating images
*Micro-printing - second line authentication often used on currencies
*Near-field communication, NFC (Near Field Communication) tagging for authentication - short-range wireless connectivity that stores information between devices
*Overt and covert feature
*QR code
*Security pigments and inks - marks only visible under ultraviolet light and is not under normal lighting conditions
*Serialized barcodes
*Tactile prints - dots printed directly onto surface of the product, provide embossed finishes to highlight specific design features
*Tamper evident seals and tapes - destructible or graphically verifiable at point of sale
*Taggant fingerprinting - uniquely coded microscopic materials that are verified from a database
*Track and trace systems - use codes to link products to database tracking system
*Water indicators - become visible when contacted with water
With the increasing sophistication of counterfeiters techniques, there is an increasing need for designers and technologists to develop even more creative solutions to distinguish genuine products from frauds, incorporating unique and less obvious aspects of identification into the design of goods. One of the most impressive of techniques exploits anisotropic optical characteristics of conjugated polymers. Engineers have developed specialized markings and patterns that can be incorporated within the designs of textiles that can only be detected under polarized lights. Similar to methods implemented in the production of currency, invisible threads and dyes are used to create unique designs within the weaves of luxury textiles that cannot be replicated by counterfeiters due to a unique set of fibres, anisotropic tapes, and polymer dyes used by the brand and manufacturer.
See also
References
Further reading
* Sara R. Ellis, ''Copyrighting Couture: An Examination of Fashion Design Protection and Why the DPPA and IDPPPA are a Step Towards the Solution to Counterfeit Chic'', 78 Tenn. L. Rev. 163 (2010), ''available at'' http://ssrn.com/abstract=1735745.
* Phillips, Tim. ''Knockoff: The Deadly Trade in Counterfeit Goods'' Kogan Page, U.K. (2006)
* Wilson, Bee. ''Swindled: The Dark History of Food Fraud, from Poisoned Candy to Counterfeit Coffee'', Princeton University Press (2008)
* Ellis, D.I., Brewster, V.L., Dunn, W.B., Allwood, J.W., Golovanov, A. and Goodacre, R. (2012) Fingerprinting food: current technologies for the detection of food adulteration and contamination. Chemical Society Reviews, 41, 5706–5727.
* Ellis, D.I., Muhamadali, H., Haughey, S.A., Elliott, C.T. and Goodacre, R. (2015) Point-and-shoot: rapid quantitative detection methods for on-site food fraud analysis – moving out of the laboratory and into the food supply chain. Analytical Methods. 7, 9401–9414. http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2015/ay/c5ay02048d?page=search
*
* ''Share and share alike: the challenges from social media for intellectual property rights''. UK Government: Intellectual Property Office. 2017. 99. 1–150. .
* Stroppa, A., & Stefano, D. D. (2016). ''Social media and luxury goods counterfeit: a growing concern for government, industry and consumers worldwide'' (pp. 1–50, Rep.) (B. Parrella, Ed.). Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post.
External links
{{Commonscat, Counterfeit consumer goods
National Food Safety and Toxicology Center
''The Counterfeit Food Scope and Threat'' Seminar at the ''Michigan State University''
Food fraud and "economically motivated adulteration" of food and food ingredients
at the Congressional Research Service
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a public policy research institute of the United States Congress. Operating within the Library of Congress, it works primarily and directly for members of Congress and their committees and staff on a c ...
Fingerprinting food: Current technologies for the detection of food adulteration and contamination
in the ''Chemical Society Reviews''
Detecting Food Authenticity and Integrity, Royal Society of Chemistry themed collection
Point-and-shoot: rapid quantitative detection methods for on-site food fraud analysis – moving out of the laboratory and into the food supply chain
Through-container, extremely low concentration detection of multiple chemical markers of counterfeit alcohol using a handheld SORS device
Counterfeit consumer goods,
Commercial crimes
Authentication methods