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Counterfeit prosciutto ham, anabolic steroids sold in gyms, litres of fake olive oil unfit for consumption; tote bags featuring Paddington Bear, without the permission of the owners of that intellectual property (IP). IP crime is all around, and profitable, and undercutting legitimate businesses.
Recently, ahead of the release of the latest movie in the franchise, Westminster City Councilโs Trading Standards made raids on nine shops along Oxford Street in Londonโs West End and seized unofficial Paddington merchandise – t-shirts, tote bags, fridge magnets, even shot glasses that breached copyright and trade marks. The council notes that some retailers on the landmark shopping street continue to sell counterfeit goods; or ‘American candy‘ or snacks such as crisps containing banned ingredients. The security firm Surelock, acting on behalf of Paddington, worked alongside the trading standards officers. Surelock MD and retired Met Police man Ron Harrison said: โWe are extremely grateful to the team, carrying out enforcement action at so many premises in one day, it was unprecedented, everyone worked very hard.โ
Organised crime networks are taking advantage of consumer demand for low-cost products, leading to what the EUIPO (European Union Intellectual Property Office) calls a surge in counterfeit goods across the EU. In 2022, authorities seized over 86 million fake items, valued at more than two billion euros: from video games and toys to packaging materials, cigarettes and pharmaceuticals.
Joรฃo Negrรฃo, Executive Director of the Spain-based EUIPO, says: “When consumers opt for counterfeit products or are misled into buying fakes, they are not only receiving substandard goods but are also contributing to a shadow economy that undermines legitimate businesses and fuels other criminal activities. It’s essential to understand the real cost of counterfeit goods โ a cost that extends beyond the price tag and impacts our society’s well-being.โ
The 45-page report stresses that IP crime is an โecosystemโ. The connected global nature of trade only drives opportunities for such crime. Social media, influencers and online commerce have changed consumersโ behaviour, the report argues, โincreasing their appetite for IP-infringing goods or contentโ, such as broadcast sport events, movies and TV channels.
Digital world
As for the digital world, it remains โfundamentalโ to IP crime, the report shows. Online โinfluencersโ may direct customers to product listings on online stores that evade security protocols about counterfeit adverts. โDespite social media terms and conditions, which include strict policies against users posting illicit content featuring counterfeit goods, they often endorse counterfeit goods alongside genuine brands,โ the EUIPO says. The report adds that cybercriminals are crafting fake web shops that not only sell counterfeit goods but harvest consumers’ sensitive payment information, further entangling IP crime with cybercrime, according to the EUIPO. Other crimes link with IP offences: such as document fraud, corruption, labour exploitation, VAT and excise fraud and money laundering. As a further sign of the criminalsโ sophistication, fake goods are produced outside of the EU and then finalised with tags, fake logos and packaging at sites in Europe, the report states. China, including Hong Kong, and Turkey remain the main source regions for counterfeit commodities, as well as for raw materials used to make counterfeits, or mix with genuine products (which is profitable if the lower-quality product is marketed as something higher-quality).
The EUIPO stressed the safety risks if people on purpose or unwittingly buy fakes. Similarly in the UK, the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has launched its latest national awareness campaign, โFake always breaksโ, warning consumers of the dangers of purchasing counterfeit vehicle parts. A similar campaign earlier in 2024 covered beauty and hygiene products.
Miles Rees, IPO Deputy Director of Enforcement said: โWe want to raise awareness that the trade in counterfeit vehicle parts not only harms legitimate traders while enriching criminals, but can also lead to life-changing or life-ending consequences for road users. Working with our partners, weโre highlighting that such illicit goods are not subject to safety tests, and are likely to be made using vastly inferior materials. This puts them at increased risk of failure, with potentially devastating results.โ
ACG conference
The names of which companies speakers come from, at the annual conference of the ACG (Anti-Counterfeiting Group), in London on November 20, read like a whoโs who of commerce, real world and online: Procter & Gamble, Richemont (better known by some of its luxury watch and jewellery brands, such as Dunhill and Cartier), Alibaba, Amazon, Epson, Philips and DHL (in terms of the carriage of goods, legitimate or counterfeit). That the chair of the ACG board is Paul Dicken, director of brand protection for Liverpool Football Club, shows how football like other sports and entertainment more generally seeks to protect not only its physical assets but its intellectual property, because there lies the profit: from merchandise (hence the ever more enormous club shops inside or beside stadiums).
