24 fake handbags land a Texas Alcohol & Beverage Commission officer in jailkfoxtv.com story:
{On Tuesday, special agents seized Salazar’s 2006 yellow H3 Hummer after
24 suspected counterfeit handbags bearing the Coach and Dooney &
Bourke trademarks.Salazar was released from the El Paso County jail Thursday on $5,000 bond. His arraignment is set for July 29.If convicted, Salazar faces a maximum penalty of 60 years in federal prison and a $10 million fine.Federal court records don't list an attorney for Salazar, who couldn't be reached for comment.}
Sometimes only a few handbags can land you in some hot water.(Tony Zafiropoulos)
07/29/2010
US House committee learns auto industry loses $3bil in lost sales/yrtmcnet.com story:
{
Mansfield said, "Counterfeit parts and components for cars,
trucks, buses and commercial vehicles pose a critical problem to the
American economy and the supplier industry because of the wide range of
counterfeit products manufactured and trafficked worldwide. In the past,
MEMA has estimated that counterfeit goods cost motor vehicle suppliers
at least $3 billion in the United States and $12 billion globally in
lost sales. Please note that the industry believes these numbers are
conservative. In fact, Frost and Sullivan estimated in 2006 that the
global losses to motor vehicle suppliers due to counterfeiting would be
as high as $45 billion in 2011.}Imagine a world where the criminal element cannot counterfeit your product (with a proper
Authentication marker and
Detector). Together this system is unbreakable. Due to NDA disclosure requirements we cannot discuss the intricate details as to how and why this is the case. Please
contact us if you want to re-capture some of your market share lost due to counterfeit products.(Tony Zafiropoulos)
07/28/2010
Hong Kong found 291 bags of counterfeit MSG 7thspace.com story:
{Hong Kong Customs officers detected a workshop engaged in counterfeit
gourmet seasoning - Monosodium glutamate (MSG) manufacturing on July 24.
In the operation, the manufacturing workshop in Lok Ma Chau was smashed
and two foodstuff wholesale shops in Western District were searched.
Customs officers seized 291 bags of suspected counterfeit MSG worth
about $28,000 and 1,123 bags of raw materials and manufacturing
equipment worth about $116,000.}
Nothing seems to be off-limits as far as counterfeiting goes. This is not a large bust, but I thought it was interesting that even MSG is counterfeited. So there really is no limit to counterfeit goods.(Tony Zafiropoulos)
07/27/2010
Saudi Arabia and Yemen cooperate against counterfeits, as Saudi Arabia loses $10.9 Billion annually Zawya.com story:
{
The Kingdom is to sign a
memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Yemen for cooperation to protect
consumer interests in the two countries.
The decision was taken at a
joint meeting held on Saturday in Jeddah between the consumer protection
organizations of Yemen and Saudi Arabia.
Counterfeit products and
services are rampant in Saudi Arabia. As a result, Saudi companies as
well as consumers suffer heavy losses. According to one expert at the
Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Saudi companies incur losses of
nearly SR50 billion annually as a result of fraudulent trade practices.
A
recent survey confirmed that Saudi Arabia loses more than SR41 billion
($10.9 billion) annually as a result of commercial fraud. In the first
half of 2010, eight million counterfeit items were confiscated.
Thousands of traffic deaths each year are caused by counterfeit car
accessories and spare parts, such as tires and brakes that enter the
country after customs clearance}
Looks like eventually all governments are interested in doing domething against counterfeits and the criminals running the counterfeit product rings.
(Tony Zafiropoulos)
07/26/2010
$200 Billion Counterfeit Pharmaceuticals in world Havocscope.com story:
{ 1. Counterfeit Pharmaceutical Drugs$200 Billion
2. Counterfeit Electronics$100 Billion
3. Web Video Piracy$60 Billion
4. Software Piracy$51.4 Billion
5. Movie Piracy$20 Billion
6. Counterfeit Auto Parts$16 Billion
7. Music Piracy$12.5 Billion
8. Counterfeit Shoes$12 Billion
9. Counterfeit Clothing$12 Billion
10. Cable Piracy$8.5 Billion
11. Counterfeit Medical Devices$7 Billion
12. Counterfeit Sports Goods and Memorabilia$6.5 Billion
13. Counterfeit Cigarettes$4 Billion
14. Video Game Piracy$3.5 Billion
15. Mobile Entertainment Piracy$3.4 Billion
16. Counterfeit Cosmetics$3.0 Billion
17. Counterfeit Money Orders and Checks$2.5 Billion
18. Counterfeit Toys$2.23 Billion
19. Counterfeit Airline Parts$2 Billion
20. Counterfeit Small Arms$1.8 Billion
21. Counterfeit Alcohol$1 Billion
22. Counterfeit Watches$1 Billion
23. Counterfeit Credit and Debit Cards$0.82 Billion ($825.05 Million)
24. Counterfeit Pesticides$0.735 Billion ($735 Million)
25. Book Piracy$0.6 Billion ($600 Million)
26. Counterfeit Currency$0.182 Billion ($182 Million)
27. Counterfeit Cuban Cigars$0.1 Billion ($100 Million)
28. Counterfeit Purses$0.07 Billion ($70 Million)
29. Counterfeit Lighters$0.042 Billion ($42 Million)
30. Counterfeit Batteries$0.023 Billion ($23 Million)}
Notice some interesting market totals: Auto parts has $16 Billion in counterfeits any industry that has some dependence on after market (non-original manufacturer) goods has a counterfeiting problem.
If you are in one of these industries consider beating the counterfeiters by introducing an
Authentication Marker (also referred to as a taggant) on your product, as in these
examples.(Tony Zafiropoulos)
07/25/2010
Counterfeit Products also in Iran - including colour cosmetics Officialwire.com story:
{In 2009, smuggled counterfeit products continued to hinder sales of colour
cosmetics. Colour cosmetics are becoming increasingly popular among young
Iranian women for daily use. These eager consumers usually do not have knowledge
of well-known multinational brands, and are more concerned about price. As a
result, products with low prices and attractive packaging are gaining popularity
among Iranian consumers. They are typically counterfeit and imported from China,
South Korea or Turkey.
This Colour Cosmetics Products in Iran report
offers a comprehensive guide to the size and shape of the market at a national
level. It provides the latest retail sales data 2005-2009, allowing you to
identify the sectors driving growth. Forecasts to 2014 illustrate how the market
is set to change. }
There isn't too much information in this story, but I thought it was interesting that Iran also has counterfeit product problems.
(Tony Zafiropoulos)
07/24/2010
6 times increase of fake goods seizures in Greece '08 to '09 greece.greekreporter.com story:
{Greek customs have confiscated the highest number of counterfeit goods
among EU countries over the past year, according to the annual report
issued on Thursday by the European Commission on customs actions to
enforce intellectual property rights at the EU’s external borders.
Specifically, fake or pirate goods seized by Greek customs jumped sharply from 3.6 million in 2008 to 21.9 million in 2009.
In the 27 EU countries as a whole, customs seized 118 million counterfeit products in 2009, down from 178.9 million in 2008.}
EU as a whole dropped seizures 66% of the total seized in 2009 from 2008 total. But Greece's total increased six fold. The article does not discuss the reasons for an increase of that magnitude.
The top items seized were cigarettes, clothes, and designer label goods. (Tony Zafiropoulos)
07/23/2010
$5.13 million counterfeit products seized in Malaysia during the first 6 months 2010 mynews.fik4.com story:
{The Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry seized over
900,000 pirated and counterfeit products worth RM16.5 million from
January to June this year.
Its deputy minister, Datuk Tan Lian Hoe said 272 people were also arrested during the period.}
The malaysian Ringgit to the US Dollar is 16.5 to 5.13. Apparently the Malaysian department or the story does not detail what has been seized. (Tony Zafiropoulos)
07/22/2010
Computer Worm working for criminals to create counterfeit products pcworld.com story:
{The
worm, called Stuxnet, was first spotted last month,
when it infected systems at an unidentified Iranian organization,
according to Sergey Ulasen, the head of the antivirus kernel department
at VirusBlokAda, in Minsk, Belarus. The unidentified victim, which does
not own the type of SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition)
systems targeted by the worm, "told us their workstations serially
rebooted without any reason," Ulasen said in an e-mail message Tuesday.
VirusBlokAda soon received reports of the malware from "all over
the middle east," he added. Last week, Microsoft said that it had logged infection
attempts in the U.S., Indonesia, India and Iran. Security vendor
Symantec is now logging about 9,000 infection attempts per day.
After gaining access to the Iranian system, VirusBlokAda
researchers were able to analyze the worm and determine that it
exploited a new and unpatched vulnerability in Microsoft's Windows
operating system, allowing it to spread via USB devices and networked
file systems.
The highly sophisticated worm also takes advantage of default passwords used by Siemens' management
consoles to connect and then try to steal industrial secrets from
infected companies. If it worked, the worm could steal manufacturing
"recipes" from victims, allowing criminals to counterfeit products.}
Criminals are trying all kinds of methods to make more money. Which includes attempting to circumvent firewalls and standard security procedures by trying to exploit Siemens SCADA workstations as well as unpatched Microsoft Windows systems. What is interesting is the worm is targeting manufacturing centers with it's SCADA focus. Normally worms are focused on unpatched Microsoft Windows vulnerabilities. (Tony Zafiropoulos)
07/21/2010
$600,000 of exercise equipment seized: 1 convicted US Immigration Customs and Enforcement story:
{Chunchai "Katherine" Yu, 47, of Chino, Calif., was charged with
trafficking counterfeit exercise equipment bearing names such as Malibu
Pilates, Bowflex, Beachbody and Ab Circle Pro.
"This verdict should serve as a warning to those engaged in product
counterfeiting and other types of commercial piracy," said Claude
Arnold, special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Homeland Security
Investigations in Los Angeles. "Intellectual property crimes like these
not only result in the loss of untold U.S. jobs and revenues, but the
importation of substandard or tainted products also poses a serious
threat to consumers' health and safety."
Since 2007,Yu operated a business that imported exercise equipment
from China into the United States. Evidence at the trial revealed that
when two of the defendant's shipping containers were detained in July
2009 when officers discovered counterfeit equipment, Yu paid a bribe to
an undercover ICE agent posing as a CBP official in exchange for the
return of those containers. Yu continued to import counterfeit exercise
equipment until her arrest in February 2010.
The retail value of the counterfeit exercise equipment seized from Yu
totaled nearly $600,000, and were branded with counterfeited trademarks
of products legitimately manufactured by Nautilus, Inc., Guthy-Renker
Corp., Product Partners, LLC, and Fitness Brands, Inc.}
Counterfeiters and their agents have a fast free wheeling life until they are caught. It takes a while to get caught and convicted, but eventually it happens. Notice that from July 2009 when the counterfeit equipment was found until her arrest in February 2010 she continued her nefarious activities. (Tony Zafiropoulos)
07/20/2010
$200 million of counterfeits seized now 2 criminals convicted tradeandtechnology.blogspot.com post:
{
Chong Lam, 52, and Siu Yung Chan, aka Joyce Chan, 42,
were convicted for their participation in one of the largest
counterfeit luxury goods operations in the United States. In January
2008, investigators seized approximately 1,500 cartons of alleged
infringing items. In addition to criminal penalties, a civil penalty
of up to the value that the merchandise would have had if it were
genuine according to the MSRP, could be assessed under 19 U.S.C. 1526.
The total value, in this case, of the corresponding authentic luxury
goods manufactured by Burberry, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Coach, Fendi,
Chanel and others is estimated to be over $100 million.
A federal jury found Lam and Chan each guilty on one count of
conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods imported from the China;
two counts of trafficking in counterfeit handbags, wallets, purses and
carry-on bags; and two counts of illegally smuggling counterfeit goods
into the United States.}
The perpetrators were working out of the port of Baltimore. It took some time to convict them as the counterfeit products were seized on January 2008. (Tony Zafiropoulos)
07/19/2010
1700 pairs of counterfeit Nike shoes seized in Chicago, worth $162k Examiner.com story:
{Three knocks on a door gave police entrance to a room filled with an
estimated $162,000 worth of knock-off Nike shoes.
More than 1,700
pairs were confiscated from the backroom of at the E. Pretty Inc. store
at 624 West Roosevelt Road, say police.}
Chicago is pursuing store fronts with fake products, sometimes their efforts bear fruit.The whole country seems to have counterfeit products on it's mind, but nonetheless more people are getting caught. There seems to be few days where there is no news story of seizures. (Tony Zafiropoulos)
07/18/2010
8900 counterfeit items seized in Wildwood NJ capemaycountyherald.com story:
{On Thur., July 15, at approximately 3:50 p.m., as part of an ongoing
investigation into the sale of counterfeit trademarked items, members of
the Wildwood Police Department Detective Division, and Wildwood Police
Department Uniformed Patrol Division executed 12 search warrants on
various stores located on the Boardwalk.
As a result of the execution of these search warrants, in excess of
8,900 counterfeit trademarked items and approximately $40,000 in
currency was seized. The seized counterfeit items that were offered for
sale by merchants, included tee-shirts, sweatpants, sweatshirts,
sunglasses, caps, and heat transfers that reflected trademark
infringement on Monster Energy, Fox Racing, D.C. Clothing, Dolce Gabana,
Famous Stars and Straps, and Rock Star Energy Drink.}
Trademark infringement is taken more seriously these days. (Tony Zafiropoulos)
07/17/2010
Amazon Kindle's counterfeits available on day of launch Logisticsviewpoints.com story:
{
On launch day, Kindle DXs were already available for
purchase on a major B2B trade board from a company located in China. A
sample of 8 seller listings on a popular trade board had an estimated
40,000 Kindles available within a few weeks after the DX launch. Suspect
Kindle knockoffs were found for sale on trade boards and auctions in
colors and languages not sold by Amazon.
The product launch of a highly anticipated consumer electronics
product, such as the Kindle DX, presents a challenge to manufacturers
desiring to maintain supply chain control in the global market. Even on
the day of launch, Kindle DXs were offered for sale on a B2B trade board
raising questions on how the product was acquired. Thousands of Kindle
e-readers were available on trade boards from sellers, many offering
significant quantities at deeply discounted prices. One seller offered
2,500 Kindle 2 e-readers per week at a unit price of $65, well below the
list price of $299. Of 33 B2B listings offering Kindles when the DX
launched, 75% of the sellers were located in Indonesia and China.}
This scenario is unfortunately typical, on the day of the product launch knock-offs are available for sale. The counterfeiters are sophisticated and thus the manufacturer must also be more advanced in the anti-counterfeit department to keep up with the counterfeit methods. Having a non-reverse engineer capable covert
Authentication Marker would help defeat the counterfeiters. (Tony Zafiropoulos)
07/16/2010
2 arrested for trafficking in counterfeit goods for Hezbollah myfoxphilly.com story:
{Michael Katz, 58, if Plainsboro, NJ and Alaa Allia Ahmed Mohamed a/k/a
“Allaa Ahmed Mohamed Abouelnagaa”, 44, of Brooklyn, NY were sentenced on
Wednesday for conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods and
trafficking in counterfeit goods.
The charges against Katz and Mohamed were filed in conjunction with a
case against four people, including Hassan Hodroj and Dib Hani Harb.
They were charged with attempting to provide material support to
Hezbollah in the form of approximately 1,200 Colt M4 Carbine machine
guns.}
Counterfeit goods are frequently used to fund criminals and terrorist groups.. (Tony Zafiropoulos)
07/15/2010
Counterfeit Rolex (Roleks) seized 12million€ worth Marques.org story:
{Newspaper
Helsingin Sanomat reports today on their website that the Finnish
Customs has caught loads of counterfeit watches on their way to Russia.
The seized batch had been sent to Europe from China and it included fake
watches imitating expensive brands like ROLEX, CITIZEN and HELLO KITTY.
The Customs estimates that the value of the same assortment of genuine
products would be 12 million euros.}
I guess one almost expects
that some Rolex watches are fake, but it is interesting to see
12million€ worth.. (Tony Zafiropoulos)
07/14/2010
Using or importing counterfeits is a crime in India now economictimes.indiatimes.com story:
{NEW
DELHI: The next time you walk in through the customs flashing your fake
Rolex
purchased in Thailand or Hong Kong, you could be headed for trouble.
India has tightened its import norms to ensure fake product that
violates design patents do not come into the country even for self use,
as the
country looks to contribute its bit to check global piracy.
“The new notification removes the apparent unintended anomaly
of prohibiting import of infringing goods meant for trading only. Now
even
infringing goods imported for use or consumption in India will come
under the
prohibition,” said Srinivas Kotni, managing associate, Lexport, a legal
consultancy firm.
Picking up a medicine not meant for sale in India
for self use would also invite trouble.
A penalty of up to five times
the value of the goods imported can be levied on an importer under some
circumstances and prosecution can also be launched under the Customs
Act.
India has tightened all of it's Intellectual Property rules and laws. It has been shown that criminals are behind counterfeit products importing and manufacture, so finally some countries are taking the necessary steps of making even a small counterfeit product purchase a crime. (Tony Zafiropoulos)
7/13/2010
FDA bans Weight loss herbal supplement: Que She - marketed for weight loss fda.gov press release:
{The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today warned that Que She,
marketed as an herbal weight loss supplement, contains active
pharmaceutical ingredients not listed on the product label that could
harm consumers, especially those with cardiovascular conditions.
People who have purchased Que She should stop taking the product
immediately and consult a health care professional.
An FDA analysis of Que She found that it contains:
- fenfluramine – a stimulant drug withdrawn from the
U.S. market in 1997 after studies demonstrated that it caused serious
heart valve damage
- propranolol – a prescription beta blocker drug that can pose a risk
to people with bronchial asthma and certain heart conditions
- sibutramine – a controlled substance and prescription weight loss
drug, sibutramine was the subject of a recent study whose preliminary
findings showed an association between sibutramine use and increased
risk of heart attack and stroke in patients who have a history of heart
disease
- ephedrine – a stimulant drug that is legally
marketed over-the-counter for temporary relief of asthma but can pose a
risk to people with certain cardiovascular conditions.}
This is typical of various counterfeit drugs coming out of China. the FDA has a
Chinese language version of the press release also. This is a counterfeit drug because it contains more than just wight loss ingredients. My recommendation is not to purchase your drugs or herbal supplements from China or Chinese sources. Unfortunately one does not know what is in the product.(Tony Zafiropoulos)
7/12/2010
U.S. Immigrations Customs Enforcement(ICE) hosts event in New Orleansice.gov statement:
{ On 7/9/2010 ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Office Assistant Special
Agent in Charge C. Vernon Francis welcomed the group and provided
opening remarks.
"The trade in counterfeit goods costs legitimate businesses millions
of dollars in lost revenue. The illicit proceeds also support other
criminal activities in the U.S. and around the world," said Francis.
"ICE investigations focus not only on keeping counterfeit products off
U.S. streets, but also on dismantling the criminal organizations behind
this activity."
IPR Center National Program Manager Thomas Hipelius discussed the IPR
Center's national coordination efforts with state and local law
enforcement.
In fiscal year 2009, ICE partnered with U.S. Customs and Border
Protection (CBP) making 14,841 seizures of counterfeit or pirated
merchandise nationwide with a domestic value of over $260 million.
During that same period, ICE made 414 criminal arrests, had 160
indictments, and had 203 criminal convictions for IP theft crimes.}
ICE seized $260 million dollars last year, and realistically they do not catch everything. To safeguard your products you should use
anti-counterfeit technology that cannot be reverse engineered. (Tony Zafiropoulos)
7/11/2010
Monster: manufacturer of cables & consumer electronics has vigorous brand protection
Earthtimes.org story:
{Monster, a leading manufacturer of cables, headphones and consumer electronics accessories, today announced that its Brand Protection team, working in partnership with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, made its second arrest in four months yesterday of an alleged counterfeit seller in the Los Angeles area. The two recent arrests are at the vanguard of an intense “Monster Dragnet” to halt illegal counterfeit sales and manufacturing of its products, both here and around the world.
The second arrest took place on June 24, 2010 in Beverly Hills. The female perpetrator was taken into custody on felony charges by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, after they served her with a warrant and searched her premises. Her boyfriend was also taken into custody on unrelated charges as a result of this effort.
David Tognotti, Monster’s General Manager and Vice President of Operations noted: “The manufacture and sale of counterfeit consumer electronics products is a major concern to all legitimate manufacturers, retailers, and, of course, our customers. Monster wants to make sure that when people make the choice to buy a Monster product they are getting a genuine Monster product.
Consumers with ANY information or questions regarding counterfeit products or diverted products are encouraged to contact: Camilla Herron, Brand Protection Manager – Monster Cable Products, Inc. 415–330-4402 }
It just so happens I bought one of their Surge protectors last week, I did not notice anything unusual on the package. The Monster management has one of the correct strategies in place, the other two are covert and
overt brand protection. Covert brand protection consists of an Anti-Counterfeit technology or otherwise known as an
authentication marker and taggant. In our case we can make our taggant non-reverse engineer capable. (Tony Zafiropoulos)
7/10/2010
Namibia relies on other countries institutions for quality control causing loophole
informante.web.na story:
{Recent revelations by the Namibian Standards Institution that the country still
relies heavily on the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) to control the
quality and standard of consumable goods entering the country leaves a lot to
desired on the protection of Namibian industries. Only this month NSI signed a
memorandum of understanding with their South African counterparts to promote
corporation and the CEO Riundja Ali Kaakunga defended the country’s import
standards where counterfeit Chinese products find their way on to the shelves,
as affordable
Considering that the country celebrated 20 years of independence and a maturing
democracy, the heavy reliance on SABS is in no uncertain terms a big concern for
President Hifikepunye Pohamba and his team as this exposes the lack of
commitment from lawmakers in safeguarding the Namibian market and promoting
local industry.
While Namibia like any other African country continues to be
a dumping ground for counterfeit products from Asia, NSI is still to come up
with a reasonable framework of promoting quality services and products.
Chinese are among the world’s best manufacturers of products exporting to
countries as far afield as the United States of America, Britain and Europe as a
whole but the fact that NSI relies on other bodies for quality checks creates a
loophole for the Chinese to dump counterfeit products in Namibia.
}
It seems that wherever law and order is still coming together the counterfeiters are finding those areas easiest to infiltrate. Affordable Chinese counterfeits is what a lot of people say is the reason it is ok for counterfeits to make it on the shelves of a countries' stores. (Tony
Zafiropoulos)
7/9/2010
CNBC has show about Counterfeit Goods July,14th 9pm EST
classic.cnbc.com schedule:
{
United StatesPremieres Wednesday, July 14th 9p |
10p | 12a | 1a ET
about the show:
Fake handbags, watches, shoes and perfumes. The business of Counterfeit
Goods is the largest underground industry in the world. Hundreds of
billions of dollars are generated while sapping the economy, putting
lives in jeopardy, and funding organized crime in the process.
CNBC’s
"
Crime Inc.: Counterfeit Goods," takes viewers on a rare look
inside a global crime spree, where the goods are produced and
confiscated in a world of high-risk and high-reward.
Host
Carl Quintanilla takes
you on raids with the LAPD anti-counterfeiting unit, inspections at
ports, and back-room factories where counterfeits are produced. Meet a
husband and wife who were paralyzed by counterfeit Botox, a company
whose whole brand was copied, and the story of a defense contractor who
counterfeit defense parts that found their way into weapons depots in
Iraq.}
It will be interesting to see some of the images of the stories that I highlight in this blog and is about our industry. Of course another story is how companies can hedge themselves with legal liability by fortifying their products with anti-counterfeit technology:
Authentication marker or
taggant for a covert solution.(Tony
Zafiropoulos)
7/8/2010
HTC Hero (Android OS) phone counterfeits are here
trendgadget.com video:
{The clones are springing up like mushrooms, and HTC Hero has not been
spared. But most of the copies made in China known to date, offer a
version with Windows Mobile processor Hisilicon K3. Except this latest
clone offering not only a capacitive touch screen but in addition
carbide OS Android. I do not even speak of design that is exactly the
replica of HERO. There’s no doubt, we are truly in the presence of a
counterfeit, which will in the coming days giving trouble to HTC.}
The counterfeits will be difficult to differentiate from real HTC cell phone devices. Unless one has an
Authentication Marker (or taggant) that is not reverse-engineer capable. Otherwise the counterfeiter would fake that as well. We can show you some
examples, you can
contact us to discuss how we can help you set up the marker on your prosuct. (Tony
Zafiropoulos)
7/7/2010
44% of anti-malaria medicine from Senegal fail quality tests
allafrica.com story:
{The severity of the situation is clear and has called for action
among relevant authorities. This year, in a survey done by the US
Pharmacopeia found out the 44 per cent of anti-malaria medicines from
Senegal failed quality tests. In Uganda, the failure rate was 30 per
cent and in Madagascar 26 per cent.
In a survey at some Dar es Salaam clinics by Julian Harris, a
Research Fellow at International Policy Network based in London, there
are interesting findings. In the report, she says she visited small
clinics in the city, which are providing excellent service to
communities that were until recently neglected by the government health
system.
Studies show that throughout the continent, failure rates are frequently
observed at around or over one third of drugs. A peer reviewed 2008
study put the rates in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Rwanda respectively at
35, 38, 32 and 33 per cent. In this country, 32 per cent were
sub-standard.
During last two years, 1,550 food building houses were inspected of
which 1,274 were ok and 82 per cent of them met the required standards
and were awarded processing and selling permits.
Over 5,000 buildings that deal with medicines and cosmetics products
in the country were inspected, of which 834 (about 17 per cent) met the
required standards.}
Counterfeit medicines can be deadly to patients. (Tony
Zafiropoulos)
7/6/2010
Tips on reviewing Stella McCartney handbags for counterfeits
howtodothings.com post:
{
- Study the materials used in the handbags. Stella McCartney handbags
use only the finest quality of pure leather. Genuine leather is sturdy
yet smooth on the feel. It should have a natural shine and must be
flexible when folded. Though leather can be colored, make sure the color
blends well without the material looking wet and too shiny.
- Get hold of a copy of the palette of colors used by Stella McCartney
handbags. Compare the shade of the color that corresponds to the color
of the handbag you want to purchase. The palette usually comes in the
form of small leather samples so you can easily tell if the material
used is fake or real. If you cannot get hold of a hard copy of the
palette, go to Stella McCartney website and search for their color
samples. Take note also that varied colors of Stella McCartney handbags
are specifically described such as: red, black, blue, silver, pink,
green or yellow. Imitations usually use pale yellow, dark green or light
brown in their color descriptions.
- Scrutinize the zippers, locks, key chains, buckles, buttons, clasps
and other hard materials used in the bag. Zippers should be thick and
must have large teeth especially at the main opening of the handbag.
Clasps must be easy to snap in and out. The key chains must bear the
logo of Stella McCartney bags.
- Go over the stitches of the handbag. Well-run stitches (which are
very characteristic of a real Stella McCartney bag) must be smooth, even
and intact. Stitches must not wear down easily. Loose stitches indicate
that the handbag is not designed and made originally by Stella
McCartney. See to it that the stitches really penetrate the materials,
and are not used as decorations. Stitches on fake bags usually do not go
through the material. Instead, glue is used to put the pieces together
with just decorative stitches on the surface.
- Compare the real Stella McCartney bags (as they appear from the
company website) with the one you are examining. There should be no
discrepancy whatsoever. The bag you have on hand should bear exact
details with the one you see on the website. A missing single button or
clasp that cannot be located in place is a sign that the handbag is an
imitation.
}
This is one of the three strategies to pursue to foil counterfeiters- help consumers differentiate your products from counterfeiters. The second is overt branding (which is the logo), and the third is covert tags or taggants/
Authentication Markers. Then one has a
detector to check if the bag has the Authentication Marker on the bag or not.(Tony
Zafiropoulos)
7/5/2010
Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act used to stop Intellectual Property infringement
Law.com story:
{Authorized by 19 U.S.C. §337, the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930
allows certain entities to block importation of goods that infringe
valid United States intellectual property. Under §337 of the Act, the
ITC conducts investigations into allegations of certain unfair practices
in import trade (for information on §337 investigations, see,
www.usitc.gov/intellectual_property/documents/337_faqs.pdf).
Such unlawful practices include the infringement of
intellectual-property rights and other forms of unfair competition in
import trade. The investigations typically involve an allegation of:
• patent or registered-trademark infringement;
• misappropriation of trade secrets;
• passing off counterfeit goods; or
• false advertising.
The ITC is a federal agency that can stop the importation of goods
ordered over the internet from foreign vendors, after the agency
receives a §337 complaint. Historically, nearly all complaints alleging
that a U.S. intellectual property is violated by imported goods via
traditional means or via the internet have been investigated and an
action favorable to the complainant has resulted.
In fiscal year 2000, the organization handled a dozen cases. Ten
years later, the agency's annual caseload has increased nearly tenfold.
The reason for this increase was an opportunity for a resolution that is
typically years faster than the standard litigation process, and much
less expensive. After an investigation is instituted, the entire
process, including a hearing, typically takes less than 18 months.
CBP ENFORCEMENT
CBP examines cargo entering the country to ensure that it is in
compliance with a variety of laws. The examination includes a check to
determine whether or not an importation infringes on someone else's
intellectual-property rights, by, in part, checking a database of
trademarks, trade names and copyrights that CBP has compiled.
Trademarks and copyrights that have been registered with the U.S.
Patent and Trademark Office, or the U.S. Copyright Office may be
recorded with CBP for a fee of $190.
Once the offending goods are found, they will be seized. A seizure
notice will be issued to the importer, who may petition for
administrative relief, or elect to bring suit in federal district court
to recover the merchandise.
Goods that are seized and forfeited as bearing a mark that is a
counterfeit of a registered trademark, piratical of a registered
copyright, or imported in violation of distribution-rights agreements,
are routinely destroyed, unless the owner gives permission for other
disposition, such as charitable donation. Significant monetary penalties
may also be assessed for violations involving the importation of goods
bearing counterfeit marks.}
This web page goes over some of the details of what a company should do if they find out their product has been counterfeited and who they should contact in the US government. Notice that this is all after the fact, and is part of the enforcement angle of your product. One still has to create covert markers and overt branding to let everyone know that this product is your Intellectual Property. There is also the legal angle, where the potential exists a fake product might be mistaken for your real product. It is possible that the fake product could give you legal liabilities. Of course if you had a covert
Authentication Marker or taggant this would not be the case. (Tony
Zafiropoulos)
7/4/2010
$62k counterfeits seized in Taiwan 6 arrested
news.asiaone.com story:
{The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) yesterday arrested six
suspects in Taipei for allegedly manufacturing and selling counterfeit
skin care products and food supplements, said the CIB.
The CIB and police from Yilan raided three places in northern Taiwan,
seizing fake Complex Placenta Skin Essential from RJ International
Group and Oyster and Clam Extract from Taiwan Sugar.
The fake goods totaled more than NT$2 million (S$86,397), police
officials said.}
There does not seem to be a shortage of counterfeiters. $2mil Taiwan Dollars equal $62,000 USD (Tony Zafiropoulos)
7/3/2010
2.5 million printing supplies seized in Europe, Middle East & Africa
tradearabia.com story:
{A total of 2,529,984 counterfeit printing supplies were seized in the
Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) regions from November, 2008
through January, 2010, said a report.
HP, the leading technology company, recently released an
anti-counterfeit whitepaper ‘Countering the counterfeiters’, giving a
background on the scale of the counterfeit problem in the region.
Counterfeiting in printing supplies is estimated to be a multi-billion
dollar trade worldwide, with organised crime syndicates often behind the
illegal manufacture, distribution and sale of printer cartridges, said
Amin Mortazavi, HP Middle East IPG general manager.}
HP is trying to aggressively pursue the counterfeiting operations in the Europe, Middle East and Africa. (Tony Zafiropoulos)
7/2/2010
British GHD to stop 2 women from trademark infringement in South Africa re: Hair straightning product
legalbrief.co.za story:
{The British makers and local distributors of the popular electrical hair
straightner brand GHD have won a court order against two Cape Town women
who allegedly sold counterfeit GHD products.
A
Cape Times report says Narriman
Hendricks and Reumaysa Khan were ordered by the Western Cape High Court
to immediately stop trading in alleged GHD counterfeit products and hand
over all their unauthorized goods bearing the trademark GHD. The court
also allowed for an official trademark infringement inquiry to be held
to find out how many GHD labeled products the pair have sold, to
determine the amount of royalties they owed to the official manufacture
and distributor of GHD products - the Jemella Group, based in West
Yorkshire. The report notes the court application was granted to Jemella
and its exclusive SA distributor, the Durban-based company Good Hair
Day SA.}
It seems that the women were making counterfeit GHD electrical straightners. (Tony Zafiropoulos)
7/1/2010
£500,000 of camera cases seized in Bowdon, UK
Messengernewspapers.co.uk story:
{20,000 fake camera cases worth an estimated total of half a
million pounds have been seized from an address in Bowdon.
The cases, which are worth an estimated £500,000, were branded as
Canon, Sony, Panasonic, Nikon, Pentax and Kodak.
Authorities were alerted to the property after camera manufacturer
Canon noticed counterfeit items were being sold online and conducted a
number of test purchases.
Executive councillor John Reilly said: "It is illegal to copy and pass
off items baring a registered trade mark without permission and it is
quite clear due to the quantity seized, that the
products were copied in order to sell on to make a profit."}
This was a case of some good police work to find the counterfeiters. Notice that the manufacturer alerted the authorities of the counterfeit operation after they themselves bought a case. (Tony Zafiropoulos)
6/30/2010
6 arrested in Beijing for counterfeits worth 400,000 yuan
ChinaDaily.com story:
{Counterfeit
products from the Shanghai World Expo have surfaced in Beijing,
according to local police.
Earlier this month, police discovered
two gangs with fake Expo merchandise and seized more than 400,000 yuan
worth of phony goods in conjunction with the arrests of six individuals,
a municipal public security bureau officer said.
"These are the first cases involving the
infringement of licensed products from the Expo in Beijing," Wang
Yongli, vice-director with the economic crime investigation department
within the bureau, told METRO.
Phony
memorabilia is also on sale in the capital. Three people surnamed Song,
Long and Tu were allegedly caught selling fake souvenir photo albums in
the Madian market in Xicheng district. More than 1,000 albums were
confiscated, police said.
Song was forging Expo tickets along with
stamp and coin albums while Long, the boss of a printing house, was in
charge of binding the albums. Tu then registered a fake company to sell
the unlicensed products, said Wu Chen, vice-captain of the economic
crime investigation department.}
It seems that these three enterprising counterfeiters put their operation in place for the Shanghai Expo and tailored their counterfeits for the expo. Sometimes special events are targeted by bad influences as well. One has to keep an eye out for the good and the bad. (Tony Zafiropoulos)
6/29/2010
800 packs of counterfeit Viagra packs intercepted in Australia
Securing Pharma story:
{Counterfeits of Pfizer's erectile dysfunction drug Viagra (sildenafil)
have been encountered for the first time in the pharmacy/wholesale
supply chain in Australia, according to the country's regulatory
authority.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration said in a statement today that the
counterfeit product is labelled as 100mg tablets in packs of four,
carrying the batch number 314833021 and an expiry date of 04 2012.
Pharmacies across Australia have been advised to quarantine stocks of
this batch to prevent any further distribution.
Almost 800 packs of the counterfeit have been intercepted in New South
Wales and Victoria states, according to a Bloomberg report. It is not
known how many others remain in circulation.}
I have seen many press releases about counterfeit Viagra and other well known drugs. There needs to be a system of
authentication for pharmacist and user in place. (Tony Zafiropoulos)
6/28/2010
US analyzed 3000 samples of suspected counterfeits in 20102010
Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement pg39:
{Technical Analyses: Scientists in CBP’s Office of Laboratories and Scientific Services have analyzed approximately 3,000 samples of suspected intellectual property rights-infringing products so far this year. These laboratory tests have resulted in seizures of products such as circuit boards, computer chips, video game systems, cigarettes, watches, perfumes and pharmaceuticals.}
Which means the IPEC office has processed about 500 samples per month so far in 2010. Of course we know that there is no shortage of counterfeit products coming into the USA. (Tony Zafiropoulos)
6/27/2010
FDA: Generic Tamiflu on Internet can cause difficulty breathingFDA.gov press release:
{
Issue: FDA notified consumers and healthcare
professionals about a potentially harmful product represented as
“Generic Tamiflu” sold over the Internet. FDA tests revealed that the
fraudulent product does not contain Tamiflu’s active ingredient,
oseltamivir, but cloxacillin, an ingredient in the same class of
antibiotics as penicillin. Patients who are allergic to penicillin
products are at risk of experiencing similar reactions from cloxacillin.
This includes a sudden, potentially life-threatening reaction called
anaphylaxis, with symptoms that include difficulty breathing, chest
tightness, swelling of the throat or tongue, hives, dizziness, loss of
consciousness, or a rapid or weak pulse.
Background: The FDA bought the fraudulent “Generic
Tamiflu” without a prescription from a website claiming to be an online
drugstore that is no longer operational. The fraudulent version is
likely to be found for sale on other websites, however.
Recommendation: The FDA advises anyone possessing or
encountering any of these fraudulent Tamiflu drugs not to use them and
to contact the FDA's Office of Criminal Investigations by visiting the
OCI website (
http://www.fda.gov/OCI).}
Counterfeit products can destroy reputations of companies, but counterfeit medicine can create serious discomfort or worse.
Authentication of products should be a must have for all manufacturing companies. Counterfeiters are getting more sophisticated and it is time that you also to obtain an anti-counterfeit technology:
Lanthanoid compound with a
secure system that cannot be reverse engineered. Let us show you how, give us a call. (Tony Zafiropoulos)
6/26/2010
50% seizure increase at mid-FY2010 over mid-FY2009More information from the Intellectual Property Enforcement document
65-page 2010 pdf document pg38:
{Intellectual Property Rights Seizures Increase: At mid-year FY 2010, intellectual property rights seizures are at almost 9,700, an increase of approximately 50% over mid-year FY 2009.
5-Year Strategy for Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement: In early July, CBP will unveil an ambitious and comprehensive 5-year strategy for intellectual property enforcement aimed at improving enforcement throughout the entire international trade process. This multi-layered strategy manages intellectual property rights risk by expanding the border to fight counterfeiting, not only as cargo arrives at our ports of entry, but also internationally before cargo is laden on vessels destined for our shores, and after illicit goods arrive in our country.}
All the various news releases point to a larger seizure rate. (Tony Zafiropoulos)
6/26/2010
IPEC regulates supply chain due to counterfeit product prevention
From the 65-page
2010 Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement
(.pdf) released by Victoria A. Espinel, the U.S. Intellectual Property
Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC) in the White House page 16:
{Mandated Use of Electronic Track and Trace for Pharmaceuticals and Medical Products
The Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act should be modified to require that manufacturers, wholesalers and dispensers implement a track-and-trace system, which allows for authentication of the product and creation of an electronic pedigree for medical products using unique identifiers for products. Effective track-and-trace systems can make it more difficult for persons to introduce counterfeit or intentionally adulterated medical products into the U.S. market, make it easier to identify persons responsible for making a product unsafe and facilitate the recall of unsafe products by more quickly identifying where a product is located in the marketplace. Privacy concerns will be considered when deciding where the information will be housed and who will have access to the information.}
The IPEC agency looks to regulate the supply chain in the name of counterfeit product prevention. Our anti-counterfeit technology (
Authentication Marker) which cannot be reverse engineered can be placed on RFID tags so that the product can truly not be counterfeited. (Tony
Zafiropoulos)
6/25/2010
US Government to establish counterfeit Pharmaceutical Interagency Committee
More information from the 65-page
2010 Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement
(.pdf) released by Victoria A. Espinel, the U.S. Intellectual Property
Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC) in the White House page 13:
{Establishment of a Counterfeit Pharmaceutical Interagency Committee
The IPEC shall establish an interagency committee on the counterfeiting of pharmaceutical drugs and medical products. This committee will bring together the expertise of numerous Federal agencies, including the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), DOC, DOS/U.S. Agency of International Development (USAID), HHS/FDA, the IPR Center, CBP, ICE, FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), USTR, and Veterans Affairs. The committee will invite experts from the
private sector to participate as needed, and in full compliance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act and other relevant Federal laws and regulations. Among other issues, the committee shall examine the myriad of problems associated with unlicensed Internet pharmacies, health and safety risks in the U.S. associated with the distribution of counterfeits and the proliferation of the distribution of counterfeit pharmaceuticals in Africa. The IPEC shall chair the committee. The committee shall produce a report with specific recommendations for government action within 120 days of the commencement of its first meeting.}
We are going to keep an eye on this report and further investigate all of it's action plans. one of the action plans in particular is to Secure the Supply Chain by introducing track and trace in the supply chain on page 16. (Tony
Zafiropoulos)
6/25/2010
If you find counterfeit products contact a government agency
security-management.com story:
{As part of its effort to protect U.S. intellectual property rights,
the White House's new strategy released yesterday emphasizes the
government's responsibility for interdicting pirated products before
they make it to consumers.
"The U.S. Government will work to secure supply chains to stem the
flow of infringing products through law enforcement efforts and through
enhanced cooperation with the private sector," according to the 65-page
2010 Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement
(.pdf) released by Victoria A. Espinel, the U.S. Intellectual Property
Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC) in the White House.
During the press conference yesterday announcing the 33-point plan,
Vice President Joe Biden didn't mince words.}
As mentioned yesterday this is a good policy. We still believe that companies have to develop a complete preventative strategy to secure the supply chain. One has to have
authentication as part of your method of doing business. Because the products have to be tracked not just for the sake of inventory control purposes, but for authentication purposes. Also educate your consumers and law enforcement. (Tony
Zafiropoulos)
6/24/2010
US releases Joint Strategic Plan to combat IP theft
whitehouse.gov statement:
{I am pleased to announce that today we unveiled the Administration’s
first Joint Strategic Plan to combat intellectual property theft.
The U.S. economy leads the world in innovation and creativity thanks
to American inventors, artists and workers. Our ability to develop new
technology, designs and artistic works supports jobs and allows us to
export great new products and services around the world. Our citizens
need to feel confident that they can invest in new innovation and
intellectual property, knowing it will be safe from theft. Ensuring
that our ideas and ingenuity are protected helps us create jobs and
increase our exports.
The strategy contains more than thirty concrete recommendations for
improvement, falling into six main categories. First, we will lead by
example. Specifically, we will work to ensure that we do not mistakenly
purchase or use illegal products. Second, the strategy underscores
that this Administration supports transparency. That includes
transparency in our development of enforcement policy, information
sharing, and reporting of law enforcement activities at home and
abroad. Third, we will improve coordination and thereby increase
efficiency and effectiveness of law enforcement efforts at the Federal,
state and local level, of personnel stationed overseas and of our
international training efforts. Fourth, we will work with our trading
partners and within international organizations to better enforce
American intellectual property rights in the global economy. In that
regard, we will initiate a comprehensive review of current efforts in
support of U.S. businesses that have difficulty enforcing their
intellectual property rights in overseas markets, with a particular
focus on China. Fifth, we must secure our supply chain.}
These points of strategy are a good beginning. As in many other publications (
LA Times, and
Wire Update among them) the Motion Picture Association and Recording Industry Association agrees with these statements. Also Department of Homeland Security and secret service will have a hand in this. (Tony
Zafiropoulos)
6/23/2010
China: produces 2/3 of counterfeit products in world
just-style.com story:
{
Two-thirds of counterfeit goods detected
globally in recent years, which includes apparel, were shipped from
China, a United Nations (UN) report says.
"This production is typically centralized.
A large number of firms can produce virtually any product desired, and
since many products are not branded until they are closer to their
destination markets, the lines between licit and illicit production can
become blurred," it notes.}After reading and writing about this for almost a year now, it is obvious that China creates most of the counterfeits. Two shifts create real products, and the 3rd shift creates the counterfeits. There are many ways to divert the production line output, at the factory, in distribution, at the government inspection/export area. If a country has no interest in a consistent defense of company intellectual property rights, of course 2/3 of all counterfeits are made in China. (Tony
Zafiropoulos)
6/22/2010
Decrease in counterfeit goods seized first in 5 years
Crainsdetroit.com story:
{In fiscal 2009, there were 14,841 seizures of counterfeit and pirated
goods that totaled more than $260.7 million, according to the annual
report from the
U.S. Customs and Border Protection and
U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The total was a
decrease of $12 million, or 4.4 percent, from $272.7 million seized in
2008. Although slight, it was the first decrease in five years. Since
fiscal 2005, more than $978 million in counterfeit goods have been
seized.
Palizzi specializes in complex commercial litigation, intellectual
property counseling and litigation, and commercial contract disputes.
His cases include patent and trademark infringement, counterfeiting,
unfair competition, non-compete, trade secret and securities disputes.
He
said that in the past five years he's seen the amount of counterfeiting
cases increase, for a couple of reasons.
“One is because it's
just easier to counterfeit now with technology,” he said. “It's
relatively easy to dupe somebody's product, trademark or logo by jumping
on a computer and printing it on an ink jet.” }
The article does not surmise why this is the case (the decrease), in my eyes it has to be the economy. Since the technology is still advancig to make fake products.(Tony
Zafiropoulos)
6/21/2010
Italian Medicines Agency developing anti-counterfeiting tech
Securingpharma.com story:
{The Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA) has started a project to develop
analytical methods that can be used to identify counterfeit medicines,
as well as testing generic and biosimilar medicines for bioequivalence.
The anti-counterfeiting element comes under a project on the control
of active substances, the first of three topics covered by the new
programme.
The project will try to develop quantitative and
qualitative methods for determining the strength and determination of
purity of the active substance and any other components in the
pharmaceutical form.
AIFA has a number of initiatives ongoing to tackle the issue of
medicines counterfeiting, and last summer launched a public awareness
campaign though posters and leaflets disseminated through 75,000 Italian
pharmacies.}
We have an anti-counterfeiting technology by authenticating your product with a
taggant or marker.(Tony
Zafiropoulos)
6/20/2010
Authenticity of legal documents with Authentication Marker
Findlaw.com article:
{Using a high-end cotton bond paper is critical when printing final versions
of legal documents such as wills, trusts, pre- and post-nuptial agreements or
any type of agreement or directive. Some paper companies, such as Southworth,
manufacture legal bond paper that has a date code embedded in the watermark of
each sheet. Although this security feature uses technology that is more than one
hundred years old (in Southworth's case), it is strongly relied upon today to
verify validity of legal documents. I myself was able to provide a "smoking gun"
for an attorney in a recent case based on the date encoded in a watermark.
When a document is printed on high-end watermarked paper, it's imperative
that each page of the document be sourced from the same ream of paper to ensure
the date code is consistent on every page. If at some future date the document
is compromised (an extra sheet is slipped in, an amended sheet replaces an
original), the watermark's date code in the replaced sheet(s) would be unlikely
to match the date of the original document, enabling the amended page to be
identified. Many a will with a genuine signature has been "slip-sheeted".
Another security measure used to expose slip-sheeting is to deliberately
incorporate a typing error into the document. For example, transposing the first
two letters of a commonly used word such as "the" the third time the word
appears on each page of the document. This type of error could easily go
unrecognized by a forger, who would probably attribute the error to a poor
typist. By contrast, a forger would ensure that his inserted page was "perfect",
and thus by it's very nature of perfection be exposed as false. (Notes of each
unique code should be kept on file.)
This is an older post, but through our daily searches of finding uses for our
Authentication Marker and
detector security solutions we found another ... Legal document Authentication.
(Tony
Zafiropoulos)
6/19/2010
40% of medicines are not authentic in Africa
betahealthblog.co.cc post:
{Fakes from China pose a substantive risk for the global community. The
EU experienced a 1,000-percent become greater in seizures of counterfeit
prescription drugs between 1998 and 2004. A story in 2006 by The Kaiser
Family Foundation also revealed that fake bad air drugs produced in
China are surfacing in Africa, where the sickness claims 1 million lives
annually and up to 40 percent of medicines are not authentic. The
Global Piracy & Counterfeiting Consultants says, "perhaps no person
cares if Chinese counterfeit drugs are killing sick people in Africa. We
compass this will change when Internet buyers of Chinese Counterfeit ED
drugs startle having fatal heart attacks in New York, London, Tokyo, or
Los Angeles." Global Counterfeiting a pharmaceuticals is a $100 billion
dollar+ craft."}
Chinese counterfeits are everywhere. Why just assume only the enforcement angle? Besides that has not been working for the last 12 years. Anti-counterfeiting has to be a complete strategy. Educate enforcement community, consumers, and make sure products are using
authentication marker that preferably cannot be
reverse-engineered. (Tony
Zafiropoulos)
6/18/2010
New post office Intelligent Bar Code applications easy to hack
Postalsanity.com blog post:
{Last week, USPS Board of Governors Chairman Louis Giuliano discussed the
Postal Service’s 10-year action plan with major business mailers from
across the country.
"We also believe that when it comes to further revenue growth, there’s a
vital role to be played by Intelligent Mail Barcode applications. I
believe IMb holds significant potential for improving new products that
have not yet been defined. One recently announced new endeavor will
enable greeting card customers to buy cards with postage included for a
single price. The card producer pays the Postal Service when the card is
actually processed."
This is a nice idea, and its implementation may seem fairly easy. But
only at first sight. The subject matter becomes complicated with the
raise of counterfeit products. The IMb code is easy to hack, inviting
the appearance of counterfeit greeting cards. Identifying and combating
counterfeits will be a gruesome and expensive task. Besides all this we
ask: How will this idea have a measurable impact on postcard volumes? }
The Post office is always looking for new revenue, and it is interesting to note that even the Post Office has counterfeiting on their minds. What if the Post Office could deny the counterfeiters by introducing a unique unable to be copied
Authentication Marker? (Tony
Zafiropoulos)
6/17/2010
Vietnam: almost 50% of fertilizer is low quality counterfeit
English.vietnamnet.net story:
{According to the Ministry
of Agriculture and Rural Development, there are 500 enterprises
producing and trading 5000 fertilizer products.
Nearly 50
percent are low quality
Agriculture experts observe
that farmers must buy fertilizer, accounting for 30-50 percent of total
production costs to increase productivity by 35-45 percent. Many
farmers complain that they have been swindled, unknowingly buying low
quality fertilizer, which has badly affected the production.
Management agencies in 31
southern cities and provinces decided to examine fertilizer products to
determine the actual quality. A report released at the conference on
reviewing fertilizer products showed that 419 out of 859 samples (48.78
percent) have been found as low quality.
The low quality fertilizer
samples had too-low nutrition content. Many samples had nutrient
contents just equal to 40-50 percent of advertised levels.}
Counterfeit fertilizer is affecting farm outputs in Vietnam. Counterfeit product manufacturers are all about making higher profit margins including the reduction of quality standards. (Tony
Zafiropoulos)
6/16/2010
Counterfeits barred manufacturers from investing in Kenya
Ipsnews.net story:
{Kenya’s Anti-Counterfeit Act of 2008, aimed at
stemming the supply of counterfeits, has caused widespread concern as it
may lead to law enforcement agencies stopping legitimate generic
medicines at the country’s borders. The law’s application to medicines
was suspended in April 2010 pending a court challenge brought by health
rights activists.
The pharmaceutical companies which were involved
include GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), AstraZeneca, Sanofi-aventis, Roche and
Norvatis. The drug manufacturers met the parliamentary committee that
was tasked with the bill.
KAM’s legislative proposal centred on the loopholes
in existing laws on customs and trade that allowed continued trade of
counterfeit products. This made the passage of the bill urgent,
according to Wairiuko. The proposal also questioned the problem of "weak
vigilance at points of entry" into Kenya.
GSK managing director John Musunga confirmed in an
interview with IPS that his company, along with other multinational
pharmaceuticals, pushed the bill at every stage of the drafting process
by providing "key expertise".
He added that counterfeit trade has not only edged out legitimate
manufacturers from the market but also barred manufacturers from
investing in pharmaceutical industries since the profit margins are too
low. "Without intellectual property rights protection, the whole process
(of medicines production) goes to waste," Musunga noted.}I have purposely snipped several pieces out of the article which make it easy to see the progression of events in Kenya. Manufacturers will eventually quit investing in countries that allow counterfeit products to be produced. Unfortunately the counterfeiters use generic drugs to make
illegitimate copies of the real products. This is why the Kenya Association of Manufacturers(KAM) was conceived and then supported to create the initiatives discussed in the article. Another way to handle this is for manufacturers to have an anti-counterfeiting tool - an
Authentication Marker which can tell what is real and what is fake using a
detector. assuming the Marker cannot be
reverse engineered of course. (Tony
Zafiropoulos)
6/15/2010
Detroit latest area to find counterfeit goods operation
clickondetroit.com story:
{Documents filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court in Detroit state
that investigators allege that a 2006 Bentley, a 2002 Sequoia and more
than $61,000 in cash seized are the proceeds illegal activity.Investigators
believe members of the Aoun family were selling counterfeit merchandise
in several Detroit stores.
In 2009, the Michigan State Police searched Da Jump Off, on Grand River
in Detroit, owned by Nithal Aoun, Beck said. Police seized 2,400 pairs
of counterfeit shoes.In 2008, the State Police searched Boom Boom
Wear on Seven Mile in Detroit, also owned by Nithal Aoun, Beck said.}
Criminals and their operations will find the weak links in law enforcement around the country. Eventually one does get caught but in the meantime thousands of counterfeits have been sold. (Tony
Zafiropoulos)
6/14/2010
2 in New York convicted of 300k counterfeits could get 15yrs
Business Review story:
{Two members of one of the largest counterfeit luxury goods groups
were convicted this week for their involvement in an international
manufacturing import and wholesale counterfeit business. New Yorkers
Chong Lam and Siu Yung Chan were found guilty of conspiracy to traffic
counterfeit goods, trafficking counterfeit designer handbags, wallets,
and other bag and illegally smuggling counterfeit goods.
The goods were imported from China between 2002 and 2005. According
to evidence, the guilty parties controlled operations in 13 companies in
the U.S. and abroad and 8 factories that produced the counterfeit
goods. U.S. Customs and Border Protection confiscated container upon
container of counterfeit goods imported from China. The duo had imports
300,000 knock-off goods from China, including Burberry, Louis Vuitton,
Coach, Fendi and Coach, under the guise of their 13 companies.
The parties face five years in prison and $250,000 fine for conspiracy,
10 years and $2 million fine for trafficking and 5 years and $250,000
for smuggling.}
Notice how long it took to get this case convicted, as the fakes were imported from 2002 to 2005. The best way to combat fakes is to let people know about real versus fake. And have an
Authentication Marker or taggant that will show what is real and fake.(Tony
Zafiropoulos)
6/13/2010
Chinese state-owned company selling counterfeit Goods
Ebay cellphone-Blog post:
{China’s state-owned China Electronics wholesale and transport company in Shenzhen, China near Hong Kong. Is the first company to launch an electronic direct marketing business direct from the mainland China market.
Good quality
All products are brand new, high quality electronic products: There is no blocking the path for electronic products, or counterfeit products. We offer a wide selection of consumer electronic products – all carefully selected, in the psychological quality in our warehouse and quality control. This is your best opportunity to direct and secure access to the Chinese electronics market – all in one place online without the need to go to China to find a supplier.
Fast delivery worldwide
Directly from China Shipping (Europe, USA, Australia, etc.), usually major destinations only 4-6 days. Send out goods from our warehouse in 1 day usually pay for your order.}
This is Brazen - China is using a state owned company to sell counterfeit goods among others to the rest of the world. Here is the statement in the second paragraph:
"There is
no blocking the path for electronic products, or counterfeit products."
One can only hope that the Chinese blog poster is unable to translate English well or that the site is fake.(Tony
Zafiropoulos)
6/12/2010
$4 Billion per year of counterfeits in Indonesia
Nuclearcounterfeit.com story:
{
Indonesia is awash with counterfeit products, with losses in various
sectors of the economy estimated at Rp 37 trillion ($4 billion) a year,
according to a new study by the University of Indonesia and the
Indonesian Anti-Counterfeiting Society.
Out of 12 sectors of the economy, the study found counterfeiting was
most rife in the cosmetics industry, with 16 percent of cosmetics on
the market believed to be knockoffs. Around 15 percent of pesticides
sold in Indonesia were counterfeit, while the automotive parts, office
and electronic equipment, cigarettes, pharmaceuticals, non-alcoholic
beverages, leather and footwear sectors were all around 10 percent, the
study found.
The true level of losses from counterfeiting in Indonesia is likely
to be well above $4 billion a year, given that sectors especially open
to fakes, such as clothing and sunglasses, were not covered by the
study.}
If one could look at all sectors of economy I think one would find most economic sectors being counterfeited. (Tony
Zafiropoulos)
6/11/2010
£4 million in counterfeits seized in midlands Airport - UK
BBC news story:
{
Imitation designer hair straighteners and computer games were among
the most common finds in the 2009 haul, customs officials said.
The UK Border Agency said the goods were often dangerous and
the proceeds can fuel organised crime.
Officers warned the public if the price of a designer item
seemed too good to be true, it probably was.
The agency said most of the counterfeit goods were intended to
be sold either through internet auction sites or at car boot sales.
It said the £4m of goods seized in 2009 was double that of the
previous year.}
Counterfeit Goods are the same all over. (Tony
Zafiropoulos)
6/10/2010
£51 million of lost sales projected by round two in World Cup
Google News story:
{
Up to a fifth of World Cup merchandise is expected to be fake, with
almost a quarter of consumers admitting they would buy counterfeit
items, according to a study.
Counterfeit products are "rife" and
are set to cost UK retailers £51 million in lost sales by the end of
round two and £92.4 million by the final, the study for shopping
comparison website Kelkoo found.
Replica shirts and sportswear are
most common, accounting for £36 million in sales by the end of the
second round or £65 million if England reaches the final.}
Replica is ok, Counterfeit products are not. People do not actually buy real uniforms on soccer players, they are all replica. But counterfeit goods are not even made from the same manufacturer. Usually Adidas, Puma, or Nike make both the players jersey's and some slightly lesser quality shirts. The counterfeit goods are not made by Adidas, Puma, or Nike. They are made by counterfeiters which are usually underground factories making product which is quite inferior to the "real". (Tony
Zafiropoulos)
6/9/2010
Tourist bought Louis Vuitton fake purse for €7 fined for €1000
Guardian.co.uk story:
{
A tourist in Italy who thought she was
on to a bargain when she bought a fake Louis Vuitton purse from a beach
vendor for €7 (£5.70) has been slapped with a €1,000 fine as part of a
draconian summer crackdown on counterfeit goods.As she haggled
with an itinerant Senegalese salesman on the sands at Jesolo, near
Venice, on Sunday, Ursula Corel, 65, from Vienna in Austria, had no idea
she was being observed through binoculars by police officers perched on
the lifeguard tower.
The officers are part of a new 20-strong
squad sent out this summer by the local mayor to crack down on the
vendors, who hawk bags and clothes up and down the beach. The national
trade in fake brand-name goods is worth €7bn a year.}
Influential Manufacturers are making consumers pay for the proliferation of fake products. (Tony
Zafiropoulos)
6/8/2010
5-20% of electronics supply chain at risk of being counterfeit
Havocscope.com information:
{
An estimated 5 to 20 percent of electronic components in a supply chain
is at risk of being counterfeit.
Between 2005 to 2010, US law enforcement agencies made over 700 raids
on counterfeit networking equipment and seized over 94,000 counterfeit
Cisco networking equipment.
The counterfeit equipment was valued at $86 Million.
IT companies lose an estimated $100 million to counterfeit technology
products each year.
Source: KPMG and The Alliance for Gray Market and Counterfeit
Abatement,
2005 report}
Havocscope.com lists many other industries with a total of $175 Billion in electronics and pharmaceutical products. (Tony
Zafiropoulos)
6/7/2010
$11 Billion of Fraud due to counterfeits in Saudi Arabia
Economic-news.co.cc story:
{
He stressed leopard in a working paper presented at a workshop «the face
of commercial fraud and counterfeiting» organized by the Council of
Saudi Chambers yesterday, with the broad participation of experts,
customs officials, specialists, government agencies and private, that it
had been working for the customs to prepare a program to document
compliance certificate issued by the destination country source, and
through random samples of the items attached to certificates of
conformity, and forwarded to laboratories for analysis, and to ensure
the accuracy of the certificate. He stressed that «the spread of
counterfeit or fake goods adversely affects the rest of the companies
and producers who produce goods of origin and are committed to quality
standards and specifications required, and this leads to an increase in
the cost to these companies.
Meantime, a member of the National Committee for auto dealers Faisal Bin
Osman Ahmed Abu Shusha that losses resulting from commercial fraud in
the Kingdom more than 41 billion riyals, including fraud According to a
survey by the Ministry of Economy and Planning, Food and Drug Authority
in Saudi Arabia, 42 sectors, including automotive sector. The Abu
Shusha, the phenomenon of cheating is the most important challenges
faced by regulatory authorities in the Kingdom, because of their
differing ways and methods of fraud, different cultures, has been
observed that most of the counterfeit car parts sourced from China and
the UAE, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia.}
41 Billion Saudi Riyals means about 11 Billion Dollars. (Tony
Zafiropoulos)
6/6/2010
Samsung Electronics part of the 200 million Kwacha seized
Zamba Daily Mail story:
{
A COMBINED team of
Zambia Police Intellectual Property Unit and Cycorp Zambia Limited on
Tuesday seized an assortment of Samsung electronic counterfeit products
worth over K200 million.
The seizure
follows the unearthing of a scam in which some foreign traders are
selling counterfeit electronic household products to unsuspecting
customers.
The products confiscated include fridges, television sets, Hi
Fi music systems, stoves, microwave woven units and other electronic
household goods.
And intellectual
property specialist Kingsley Nkonde said Zambia has recently witnessed a
rise in the number of counterfeit products on the market.
Mr Nkonde said the
raid followed a complaint by the manufacturers, Samsung, whose company
lawyer is currently in Zambia.}
The criminal element will try and find a weak spot in the world to sell its counterfeit product contraband. (Tony
Zafiropoulos)
6/5/2010
200 million Kwacha of counterfeits confiscated in Zambia
Postzambia.com story:
{A COMBINED team of the Zambia Police and Cycorp Zambia limited officers
have confiscated counterfeit electronic appliances worth over K200
million in a raid from three shops in Lusaka.
Three foreign nationals have since been arrested in connection with the
scam.
Zambia Police Service spokesperson Bonny Kapeso confirmed the
development in Lusaka yesterday.
Kapeso said counterfeit products under the brand name of Samsung were
confiscated from the three named shops in Lusaka’s central business area
on Tuesday following a complaint from the brand owners.
Kapeso said counterfeit products seized in the joint operation include
86 Digital Versatile Discs
DVD players, 27
television sets, 25 fridges, 23 microwaves and 23 home theatres under
the brand name of Samsung.}
200 million Kwacha means $39000. In Zambia that is quite a sum of money. in 2008 Zambia had a GDP of $14.3 Billion. If you convert $14.3Billion into Kwacha then you get 71.3TrillionK. (Tony
Zafiropoulos)
6/4/2010
84 infants died due to tainted teething syrup in NigeriaChamberpost.com story:
{“Counterfeit medication and sub-standard products are now a mainstream
issue of concern. Recent disastrous incidents, such as the death of 84
infants in Nigeria due to tainted teething syrup, have led to much
public outcry on the challenges consumers face in a global marketplace
laced with counterfeit products worth over $500 billion. The private
sector in a number of industries has moved past the stage of denial,
where just a few years ago, it was generally unpopular to admit that
one’s products were under attack by brand pirates. Today, consumers,
companies and governments are asking – what can be done to stop this
counterfeiting menace?}
Governments and citizens must be aware of the counterfeiting scourge. (Tony
Zafiropoulos)
6/3/2010
Electrical industry has set up anti-counterfeit websiteCounterfeitscankill.com website:
{The website aims to inform their readers and industry allies on the dangers of
distributing, specifying, purchasing and installing fake
electrical
products—including circuit breakers, wiring, switches, lighting,
relays,
contacts, sockets, timers, ballasts, cable and fuses.}
This is a relaunch of the website. The industry also needs an
Authentication Marker, here are some
examples.
(Tony
Zafiropoulos)
6/2/2010
South America has 50% counterfeit ink cartridgesrafaeldorey.getablog.net blog post:
{Ink for my Canon MX310 runs around 24 bucks for 13 mL of ink. A little
math reveals that each mL costs around 1.80, or an astounding
$1,800/liter.
Something that nets good margins as a branded name can also product
positive margins for a faker. Not unlike other counterfeit products like
iPods or Cartier watches, fake printer ink cartridges are making an
appearance.
Relatively infrequent in the United States, authorities in Latin and
South America estimate that current counterfeit ink cartridge
penetration on the market is around 50%. The values in the US are more
along the lines of 5%.}
The blog poster did not mention where exactly he gets his figures. All I can say is that we have discussed fake printer cartridges before. The counterfeiters are always inserting themselves into a profitable product.
(Tony
Zafiropoulos)
6/1/2010