Dabur India helps raid counterfeit producers
Media4achange.wordpress.com has the information:
"Raids
of such magnitude, Narang said, are an effort to tackle the problem of
fake products entering the Indian market, which result in an annual
loss of approximately Rs 30,000 crore to the industry and Rs 15,000
crore to the Government exchequer. The FMCG industry alone has been
facing losses of over Rs 2,600 crore per year, due to counterfeit
products.
Moving forward on Dabur India Ltd’s efforts to rein in
the counterfeit products racket, manufacturing units across West
Bengal, Ghaziabad and Rajasthan involved in the production of fake
Dabur products and medicines were raided. The raids, conducted by local
authorities, led to the seizure of spurious personal care &
healthcare products and medicines.
During separate raids in district Nadia (West Bengal), spurious ‘Dabur Gulabari’ and ‘Dabur
Keora
Water’ were confiscated. The seized goods included 50,000 labels of
Dabur Gulabari, over 30,000 labels of Dabur Keora Water and both filled
& empty bottles of different sizes. The two accused – Swapan Sarkar
and Parag Mahato – has been arrested and sent to judicial custody."
Here is a Dabur Gulabari skin care product from their
website (the real company):
Counterfeiters will be able to fake any product, and unless there is an authentication marker it will be difficult if not impossible to recognize the difference between real and fake packages.(Tony Zafiropoulos)
Tony Zafiropoulos
12/31/2009
EDXRD also used to detect counterfeit products
securepharmachain.blogspot.com has a blogpost about EDXRD:
"EDXRD(Energy
Dispersive X-Ray Diffraction) utilizes x-ray beams to screen
crystalline materials, penetrating a container like luggage, while
giving the operator molecular spectra of the material instead of an
image and a clear cut way to distinguish real threats and common items.
The EDXRD spectrum is essentially a fingerprint which can be
automatically “matched” against a known library of threats and the
operator notified immediately.
PETN, a crystalline based
material that was used by the suspected terrorist is a perfect example
of a material that EDXRD would detect. PETN comes in a substance form
as a powder. The powder would show up as any other powdered material in
a current magnetometer used in airports around the globe. EDXRD would
be able to differentiate its molecular spectra fingerprint and
recognize the threat in real time as it was being passed through the
system.
EDXRD technology is currently in use within the
pharmaceutical supply chain as a way to detect fraudulent, adulterated
and counterfeit medications inside the material’s unit-of-sale
container without destroying or degrading the products and has proven
extremely accurate and reliable."
The
pharmaceutical industry could use not just "extremely accurate and
reliable" but a method that is 100% accurate and reliable. Without the
worry of reverse engineer capabilities by the counterfeiters. Authentication Marker and reader technology.(Tony Zafiropoulos)
Tony Zafiropoulos
12/30/2009
71% of Artesunate sold fake
Dr.(Naturopathy) Ir. Donny Hosea MBA. PhD has a blog:
"Imagine
the outcry if 500 people in a developed country such as the US or UK
died after being given a fake medicine. Then consider that in the early
1990s a similar number of children died of kidney failure in India,
Haiti, Bangladesh and Nigeria after taking fake paracetamol syrup
contaminated with a toxic solvent. Barely anyone noticed bar their
families and a few doctors.
Their deaths represent just one
documented case of a trade in illicit pharmaceuticals that claims
countless lives each year. Victims, mostly among the world's poorest,
unwittingly buy fake medicines that often contain toxic substances or
little or no active ingredients, yet purport to combat the most common
preventable killers, including malaria,tuberculosis and typhoid.
In
Cambodia, a survey revealed that 71 per cent of the artemisinin-derived
drug artesunate sold is fake, while across south-east Asia, 53 per cent
of artesunate packs sold in 2002 and 2003 were faked, says lead author
Paul Newton of the University of Oxford.
The Center
for Medicines in the Public Interest, a charity backed by the US
pharmaceutical industry, predicts that global sales of fake drugs will
reach $75 billion by 2010 unless the trade is curtailed.
Fake
packaging is also increasingly sophisticated, says Newton. Some of the
artesunate packs he found in Asia even carried holograms like those on
the originals. "At the moment, the counterfeiters are winning." But
Zucker is more upbeat, and sees the creation of IMPACT as evidence that
there is at last the political and international will to do something.
"My perception is that there's momentum." "
Sophisticated
packaging is not enough, even multiple layers of holograms (which can
only be verified with sophisticated instruments. If you are going
through the trouble of using a detector and multiple layer holograms,
you should consider the only Authentication Marker that cannot be reverse engineered.(Tony Zafiropoulos)
Tony Zafiropoulos
12/29/2009
Indonesia says Drugs most counterfeited product JakartaPost.com has a story:
"Losses
to the state blamed on counterfeit goods continue to increase each
year, says the Indonesian Anti-Counterfeiting Society (MIAP), with
over-the-counter drugs the most widely imitated.
MIAP
chairwoman Widyaretna Buenastuti said last week that based on a study
conducted by the MIAP and the University of Indonesia’s Institute for
Economic and Social Research (LPEM-UI), counterfeit products in the
footwear, textile, cigarette and pesticide sectors from 2002 to 2005
caused Rp 4.4 trillion (US$459 billion at the time) in losses to the
state.
“This number increased significantly in 2009,” she said, but did not give a figure."
An
earlier survey showed 607Bil Rp of counterfeit drugs. 607Bil Rp is
equivalent to 60Billion Dollars. That is a sizable dollar amount.(Tony
Zafiropoulos)
Tony Zafiropoulos
12/28/2009
Anti-Counterfeiting exhibition in Dubai
Khaleejtimes.com has a story:
"The
second edition of the Anti-counterfeiting Exhibition which was
concluded today in Abu Dhabi has attracted more than 10000 visitors
over 7 days, said Abu Dhabi’s Department of Economic Development (DED),
organizer of the event.
93% of respondents to a recent poll expressed confidence in the measures taken by the government to curb counterfeiting.
CEO
of Commercial Affairs at DED Salim Al-Nuaimi stated that the Department
makes concerted efforts to fight the illegal commercial practices
including piracy and fake products and seeks to toughen punitive action
against violating companies and individuals.
Around
500 counterfeited consumer goods, or Knock Offs, such as bags, shoes,
cosmetics, auto spare parts, watches, compact discs, sportswear, mobile
phone, electric devices and others, were put on display at the
exhibition along with the original goods."
500
were displayed and the article also said that 11400 types of
counterfeit products were seized in 2009. This is a great idea, display
the large numbers of counterfeit and real goods which gives a pulse of
the counterfeit industry.(Tony Zafiropoulos)
Tony Zafiropoulos
12/27/2009
800 seizures by Irish Authorities in 2009
Independent.ie has the story:
"Figures
obtained by the Irish Independent show that officials are on track to
reach 800 separate busts for 2009, while a similar number took place
last year.
By September this year, officials had carried out 560 swoops and seized 432,568 separate items with a combined value of €1.4m.
That
follows on from 2008, when four seizures totalling 28,000 fake pairs of
runners contributed to a whopping €5.8m value of items seized. The
figures do not include contraband cigarettes."
Ireland
is not immune to counterfeit products. Wherever there is a market there
will be counterfeiters attempting to take advantage. (Tony Zafiropoulos)Tony Zafiropoulos
12/26/2009
$100,000 counterfeit goods seized at 60 stores
570news.com from Canada has some news:
"The
RCMP have seized more than 100 thousand dollars worth of counterfeit
products at sixty retail stores and flea markets in the region.
Corporal Judith Falbo says items like sports jerseys and DVDs were found in 60 stores, some of which were in shopping malls.
Falbo says the blitz by the Kitchener detachment was conducted this month.
She says no arrests have been made yet."
The
Royal Canadian Mounted Police(RCMP) is on the case, and the typical
locations for counterfeit goods are being watched. Interesting to note
is that these stories are continuing to occur. It seems that there is
always another person trying to make a dollar with counterfeit goods.
Companies still need to create anti-counterfeiting methods, preferably
using upconversion which set up a non reverse-engineer product: an Authentication Marker to go on your products, here are some examples. (Tony Zafiropoulos)Tony Zafiropoulos
12/24/2009
Fatwa issued by Indonesian society towards anti-counterfeiting efforts
MIAP fatwa website:
"MIAP has extended concern to MUI that IP rights needs to be protected to protect the Indonesian consumers.
- Consumers
are protected in order to get the real benefit of the original products
and avoid unnecessary risk because of purchasing a fake product that
may be harmful to health.
- Once consumers understand that
counterfeiting is harmful to their well being they will be more
positive and supportive towards this Fatwa.
Islam always
encourage Moslem to conduct the business based on honesty &
integrity, by being honest each business activity takes the consumer’s
safety into consideration first.
- The purpose of this Fatwa
is to foster enforcement of the laws and regulations pertaining to IPR
in consideration that the majority of Indonesia is Islam.
- This
Fatwa will only be effective if the public are educated on the
importance of IPR protection as described by the Koran Verses and IPR
protection is crucial to consumer safety, as those violating IPR do not
take into consideration of the health and welfare of other people as
the Koran has clearly stated so."
MIAP stands for Masyarakat
Indonesia Anti-Pemalsuan (MIAP) It is an organization that is trying to
raise awareness to the public about counterfeit products
. Working on clarifying laws and regulations.
This is their statement:
MIAP
carries the mission of any company (thus a collective of companies) to
strategically advocate and find the desired solution on counterfeits.
It is an anti-counterfeit society.
(Tony Zafiropoulos)Tony Zafiropoulos
12/23/2009
FDA issues warnings to 22 web sites around world
OPSECsecurity.com blogpost about FDA International Internet Week of Action:
"During
the effort, the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations (OCI), in
conjunction with the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research and the
Office of Regulatory Affairs, Office of Enforcement, targeted 136 Web
sites that appeared to be engaged in the illegal sale of unapproved or
misbranded drugs to U.S. consumers. None of the Web sites are for
pharmacies in the United States or Canada.
The agency issued 22
warning letters to the operators of these Web sites and notified
Internet service providers and domain name registrars that the Web
sites were selling products in violation of U.S. law. In many cases,
because of these violations, Internet service providers and domain name
registrars may have grounds to terminate the Web sites and suspend the
use of domain names."
This new effort has the
ultimate goal of taking all counterfeit pharmacy product out of
circulation. At minimum this makes it more difficult for counterfeiters
to sell their wares. (Tony Zafiropoulos)Tony Zafiropoulos
12/23/2009
$35,246 counterfeit goods seized in NE Ohio
Vindy.com story:
"WARREN
— A Howland man caught participating in a counterfeiting operation
involving the Rogers Flea Market in Columbiana County has been
sentenced to two years’ probation and will forfeit $40,246.
Kong H.
Ni, 30, who listed an address on Laurelwood Drive Southeast, received
his sentence Monday from Judge Peter Kontos in Trumbull County Common
Pleas Court.
Ni pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of
trademark counterfeiting and possessing criminal tools in October after
police raided his home and found about 500 items, mostly purses,
wallets and sunglasses containing trademarks of designer brands such as
Coach, Gucci and Chanel.
The Rogers investigation led to a raid
Aug. 22, 2008, at a warehouse at 1804 N. State St., Weathersfield
Township, where $15 million to $20 million in counterfeit goods were
found. Parson said at that time the find was perhaps the largest
counterfeit operation uncovered in the state’s history.
Parson
said the goods were made in China, brought into the United States
through New York, and then used to supply outlets in Ohio and possibly
the entire Midwest."
There are people everywhere making or trying to gain counterfeit goods imports. (Tony Zafiropoulos)Tony Zafiropoulos
12/22/2009
Government of Georgia cracks down on counterfeit
Georgian Business Week Maia Arabidze has the story:
"The
Investigative Service of the Ministry of Finance of Georgia (MOF) is
planning to conduct seriously to reveal counterfeit consumer products
that illegally pose as name-brand items. This year 25 counterfeit cases
were revealed. Food products are also often counterfeited in Georgia.
There
was a very recent case of revealing counterfeit products last week. In
Samtredia the Investigative Service detained the director of the
non-alcoholic drinks Diasamidze & Company Chikona. In Kutaisi the
head of the sparkling wine company Bagrati 93 and the non-alcoholic
refreshing drinks’ producer Twix, who this year has already been
charged under criminal laws, was also detained. The investigators took
several dozen cases of suspected counterfeit lemonade and sparkling
wines as evidence. Authorities took samples and say all of them are
falsified and the majority of non-alcoholic drinks contains bacteria
that is dangerous for human health. The Investigative Service officers
on a fact of adulteration and using of second hand excise marks have
detained the director of Kolkhi 2009 Erasti Kvirkvia and Zaza Jvania,
who, without any sanitary norms were producing alcohol drinks such as
wine - Dzveli Ubani, brandy Bermukha, liqueur Medea, Neoliti and
others. According to expert’s analysis those alcohol drinks contained
harmful impurities."
The Georgian government is starting to realize the depths of counterfeiters in it's borders. (Tony Zafiropoulos)Tony Zafiropoulos
12/21/2009
Spotting Counterfeit Goods
USAToday.com has some tips:
"
Look for spelling errors, no bar code:
A
fake designer purse probably won't hurt you, although your pride might
be injured if someone discreetly points out that "Gucci" is spelled
with two c's.
But counterfeit electrical
items can present a serious risk. Those holiday lights found at a flea
market could burn down your Christmas tree. The unlabeled $1 extension
cord at a discount store could electrocute you. And let's not even
think about the damage that could be inflicted by substandard power
tools.
Unfortunately, counterfeiters have gotten more
sophisticated, making it more difficult to spot the phonies, says
Anthony Toderian, spokesman for CSA International, which tests and
certifies consumer electronics and other products. "These products turn
up in major retailers," he says. "They can be fooled, too".
•Spelling and grammatical errors on packaging.
Many counterfeit products are made in countries where English isn't the
first language. Legitimate manufacturers take extra care to avoid
errors.
•No contact information. Reputable companies provide a way for you to get in touch with them if you have questions or concerns about the product.
•Absence of a certification mark.
Look for a certification mark from a nationally recognized testing
laboratory, such as CSA, UL or ETL, a mark provided by Intertek Testing
Services. Or if the mark is only on the packaging, it could be
counterfeit.
•Products from different manufacturers sold together. Legitimate companies don't bundle their products with those of their competitors.
•No-name products.
•No UPC bar code. The absence of a bar code, which allows store clerks to run the item through a scanner at checkout.
•Unbelievably low prices. If you find a great deal on the season's hottest toy or electronic device, be wary.
•Be cautious when buying electronic items online.
The convenience and anonymity of the Web have contributed to a dramatic
increase in counterfeit products, the Electrical Safety Foundation
International says."
For electronic items the only way to differentiate for sure from the counterfeit goods is an Anti-counterfeit Authentication Marker. (Tony Zafiropoulos)Tony Zafiropoulos
12/20/2009
Counterfeit Drug Amendment shot down
Forbes has an interesting story on a health care amendment:
"If
our market were opened up to drugs supplied from multiple foreign
sources, the FDA simply wouldn't have the manpower to regularly inspect
all manufacturers, wholesalers and pharmacies that could potentially
ship drugs into the United States. Foreign drug-manufacturing plants
are checked by the FDA at best, if at all, every eight to 12 years, so
American patients cannot be sure whether the drugs prescribed to them
meet FDA safety standards.
Foreign inspections are essential
because the FDA and U.S. law enforcement agencies have consistently
found that drugs coming into the U.S. from foreign suppliers are of
uncertain origin and ingredients. Most importation today is through
online sources--an illegal activity without a prescription and a
pharmacists' dispensing license--and in many cases, these drugs do not
contain the active ingredients they are purported to have--the
essential elements that make a drug effective. Just a few months ago,
the FDA issued a warning to American consumers who thought they were
buying Tamiflu over the Internet. An investigation found the drugs
actually contained only talc and acetaminophen.
While the Dorgan
Amendment would only allow imports from supposedly safe countries such
as Canada, Japan and members of the European Union, the reality of
global drug manufacturing is that we cannot really be sure from where
pharmaceuticals originate, even if their direct point of entry into the
U.S. is a Canadian or British pharmacy. The European Union, with its
common market, has an especially difficult time keeping illegally
produced drugs from countries such as India and China out of its supply
chain. Last year, 34 million counterfeit drugs were seized by E.U.
officials in just two months."
If 34 million were seized in two
months how many are getting through to various markets in the EU and
US? Companies need to educate consumers on their anti-counterfeit
technologies and create a non-reverse engineer capable authentication
marker. (Tony Zafiropoulos)
Tony Zafiropoulos
12/19/2009
New raids in Dallas net $130,000 in fake clothing
USAToday story:
"When
federal and sheriff's investigators showed up with a search warrant at
Bargain Corner Jean Store here, they found about $130,000 worth of fake
True Religion and Ed Hardy. Affliction and other high-end jeans,
T-shirts and sneakers. They hauled out 1,500 items in 40 trash bags and
18 boxes from the store, the owner's minivan and employees' cars.
Counterfeiting "is a multibillion-dollar industry, a global crime and a serious threat," says Marcy Forman, director of
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center in Arlington, Va.
In
fiscal 2009, nearly 80% of counterfeit goods seized came from China.
Shoes — such as the bogus Nike sneakers with rock-hard soles on display
at the government's IPR Center — were the biggest category, making up
38% of merchandise seized."
Some say counterfeit industry is a $200 - $300 Billion dollar industry. We are ready to make a dent in that figure with our authentication marker. (Tony Zafiropoulos)Tony Zafiropoulos
12/18/2009
UAE to ban re-exporting medicines
AMEinfo.com story:
"
The
UAE will soon end re-exporting of medicinal drugs from its ports to
curb a growing regional trade in counterfeit products, according to a
senior health official, Khaleej Times has reported. 'Both registered
and unregistered medicines will not be allowed in the country for
re-export,' Dr Amin Al Amiri, CEO, Medical Practice and License at the
UAE Health Ministry told the newspaper on the sidelines of the two-day
regional conference on fighting counterfeit medicines, organized in
collaboration with pharmaceutical firm Pfizer."
Just imagine... The UAE has been re-exporting all this time. And likely not just in medicines. (Tony Zafiropoulos)Tony Zafiropoulos
12/17/2009
2010 looks like growth year
SecureIDnews.com has a story about the potential security market in 2010:
"A
third aspect of contactless that will see significant uptake in the
coming year is authentication, specifically for the protection of high
value products and goods against counterfeit and copyright
infringement. The amount of counterfeit products, especially in pharma
and consumer electronics, is rising from year to year, and software
alone cannot solve this problem. Just look at Microsoft which recently
banned up to 1 million
Xbox
Live users for fake accessories. With the growth of the personalized
consumer experience and device proliferation, high value brands will
continue to invest in protection from theft or counterfeiting.
In
summary, 2010 presents ripe opportunity in contactless innovation and
investment for those that know where to look and spot the trends. In
terms of challenges, for the above opportunities to materialize there
is a need for immediate and sustainable alignment in the ecosystem. It
is essential that end-to-end partners drive technology components and
usage patterns in the various markets and deliver on the consumer
promise of contactless transactions as secure, easy to use and
intuitive applications that improve lives."
One authentication marker they are not intimately familiar with is ours and some examples.
our
marker is impossible to forge, which is a tall order but we can explain
the intricate details once you sign a non-disclosure agreement. It has
to do with the marker consisting of Lanthanoid compound using its upconversion ability to make it non-reverse engineer capable due to the key and lock concept.(Tony Zafiropoulos)
Tony Zafiropoulos
12/16/2009
White House discusses anti-piracy
Variety.com has a story about Hollywood talking to the White House:
"Studio
chiefs and showbiz CEOs will gather at the White House today for a
roundtable discussion on piracy hosted by Vice President Joseph Biden.
Called Operation Holiday Hoax, the enforcement action was conducted
Dec. 8-13 and involved federal agents and officers in 41 states. It
resulted in the seizure of 708,000 products in the U.S., ranging from
Christmas ornaments to footwear, according to ICE chieftain John
Morton. Parallel operations in Mexico netted some 255 tons of
counterfeited goods, he said. The operation resulted in seven initial
arrests, along with machines used to produce counterfeit goods.Morton
said the joint operation was purposely timed to hit purveyors of
counterfeit products as they ramped up for the busy holiday season. He
said it targeted a variety of counterfeiters and trademark pirates,
distributors, associates, shippers, warehouses, salespeople and
vendors. Besides putting a dent in the criminals' holiday profits, we
are getting out the word to consumers that counterfeits are
everywhere," he said. "Buying them harms the economy and the industries
that create the real thing."
"Meanwhile, the U.S. Immigration
and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced Monday that a coordinated
anti-counterfeit sweep by the U.S. and Mexican governments has netted
more than $26 million worth of bogus products, including more than
29,000 DVDs and CDs."
The government, movie, and entertainment
industry has a profit and tax motive to fix the piracy or fake goods
problem. (Tony Zafiropoulos)
Tony Zafiropoulos
12/15/2009
HP joins Business Action to Stop Counterfeit & Piracy
Articlesbase.com has an HP anti-counterfeiting story:
"For
HP, the rise of counterfeit ink cartridges has become a real problem.
It is estimated that of the $3 billion lost to counterfeit sellers in
the cartridge industry last year, $1 billion of that was lost by
Hewlett Packard. This is according to market research by IDC. Combined
with the tough climate of the recession – sales of HP products fell 21%
this year in the US – counterfeiters today seriously undermine HP. This
is due in part to changes in HP’s business model, which depends on the
revenue from ink cartridges. They are sold at prices reaching half that
of the printers themselves, which recoup only the cost of production.
Yet
while making the ink and toner market incredibly profitable – according
to BusinessWeek.com its value has ballooned from $11 billion to $45
billion in ten years – HP opened the way for counterfeiters. While the
print giant spent this decade combating legitimate toner resellers,
which depend on HP’s own empty cartridges, the market in counterfeit
ink exploded. According to LatinTrade.com, since 2003 the revenue lost
to counterfeiters has gone from $2 billion to $3 billion. The problem
has become so massive that, between 2005-2008, HP’s anti-counterfeiting
unit conducted 4,620 investigations, seizing $795 million in fake
products."
Unfortunately it is relatively easy to create fake cartridges, since there is no Authentication Marker that is not forgable. (Tony Zafiropoulos)
Tony Zafiropoulos
12/14/2009
International Package Industry Fighting Forgery
Interpack.com has a story about International Package industry initiatives:
"More
and more institutions, associations and enterprises are taking up the
fight against product and brand piracy on a global scale. VDMA, the
German Machinery and Plant Manufacturers’ Association, for example,
initiated the “Pro Original” campaign in 2007. Its main aim is to raise
awareness about the value of original technology. “Choose the Original
– Choose Success” is the motto. Because “original” means quality,
innovation, efficiency, experience and safety.
The COPACO
Group also flies its flag: at the INNOVATIONPARC PACKAGING at interpack
2008 it presented copy-proof packaging solutions under the heading
“Innovation vs. Imitation – Concepts & Solutions”. In cooperation
with the VDMA and Aktion Plagiarius e.V. plenty of helpful information
was presented for protecting the supply chain against copy cats and
brand pirates.
In this endeavour Copaco focuses on solutions
that affect the entire supply chain – from the manufacturer to the
consumer. Alongside the classic safety features provided by printing,
concepts for the traceability of products are gaining more and more
ground. Independent from any vendors, this consulting group offers
state-of-the-art technology building on the pooled competence of its
member firms plus in-house developments. This includes the Karl Knauer
3.0 NFC system, a web-based process for global product and authenticity
checks for retailers and consumers. Thanks to the integration of latest
radio technology it provides a comprehensive track & trace solution
for inventory management along the entire supply chain including the
POS. Further options for safety concepts are offered by still recent
processes, e.g. cold-foil transfer, which allows forgery-proofness to
be increased in in-line printing just by packaging design. Many
exciting developments can be expected in this field by interpack 2011."
International
Packaging is trying to become forgery proof, but unfortunately the same
machines that make foils can be sold to forgerer and legitimate company
alike. Which is why an Authentication Marker that cannot be forged is
preferable. (Tony Zafiropoulos)
Tony Zafiropoulos
12/13/2009
Wholesalers online could be counterfeiters
Canadiandropshipper.com has a blog post:
"Doba
Doba
is massively popular because it makes drop shipping really easy. It's
nothing but drop shipping, and they handle a lot of the hard work for
you. However, as with anything that seems to good to be true, there are
some major flaws. The biggest are the marked up 'wholesale' pricing
and the product lines. Doba is known for having very high pricing, and
the products go out of stock frequently without notice. This is also a
go-to spot for eBay sellers, which means you'll have a very hard time
competing with all the other sellers with the same products and pricing.
DHGate
DHGate
is a Chinese run website that offers tons of products are very low
prices. Sounds too good to be true, right? Correct. The flaw here is
that most of the products are counterfeit. There are also many scammers
that won't send you the product at all. This is a poor choice for a
legitimate ecommerce business."
We are not going to link to
those sites, but you can search for those sites in your favorite search
engine to see for yourself what a potential counterfeit product website
looks like. iPhones are either $60 or $120 depending on how many you
buy. It seems like a very good price (and they want you to buy in bulk,
which supposedly explains the great price. But the real product's do
not have this much margin (typically most computers and other
electronic gadgets have 5% markup).The blog author is in the ecommerce
business and wants to out the illegitamate efforts (Tony Zafiropoulos)
Tony Zafiropoulos
12/12/2009
751 websites caught with 167,000 counterfeit pills
Outsourcing-pharma.com says:
"The
operation, named Pangea II, follows on from last year’s one-day sting
which also featured countries around the world coordinated by Interpol
and the World Health Organization’s (WHO) International Medical
Products Anti-Counterfeiting Taskforce (IMPACT). In the latest
operation, which was conducted last week, resources were focused on
websites that peddle counterfeit drugs and in particular their internet
service providers (ISP), payment systems and delivery services.
By
doing this the operation identified 751 websites engaged in illegal
activity and 72 of these have already been taken down. Furthermore,
officials inspected more than 16,000 packages, seizing 995 of them
which contained drugs including antibiotics, steroids and slimming
pills."
It is interesting that there are several stories that
come out every week with additional counterfeit large counterfeit
product seizures. There is no end to them. My suggestion is to add Authentication markers to your product which will irrefutably make sure the product is real. You can see some examples of where a covert/overt marker would be.(Tony Zafiropoulos)
Tony Zafiropoulos
12/11/2009
MS AG starting nation's 1st statewide task force
Clarionledger.com 's story about fighting counterfeiters in Mississippi:
'
"The good guys are ahead when it comes to tracking down child
pornography," Attorney General Jim Hood said. "We've got to get ahead
when it comes to counterfeiting and pirating. Ten years from now, I
want to be able to look back and know I made a difference in policing
the Internet."
AG MS Jim Hood
The
attorney general's office uses Operation Fairplay software to target
child predators and observe any child pornography they're downloading.
Hood said new software is expected to be released this spring aimed at
cracking down on the illegal downloads of music, movies, software and
similar items.
On Tuesday, he announced that Mississippi is
starting the nation's first statewide task force aimed at clamping down
on intellectual property theft. He co-chairs a committee on the issue
for the National Association of Attorneys General."Counterfeiting and
intellectual property theft is a big business with fat profits," said
Brad Buckles, executive vice president of antipiracy for the Recording
Industry Association of America.'
Mississippi Attourney General
has jump started the anti-counterfeiting product thinking that is
required to fight counterfeiters. Unfortunately, this type of effort is
not enough, because of the pervasiveness of counterfeit goods all over
the world. Companies must still create covert and overt authentication
markers, as we have mentioned many times, ours is the only marker that
cannot be reverse-engineered.(Tony Zafiropoulos)
Tony Zafiropoulos
12/10/2009
Italy is #3 seller of counterfeit goods in world
On-Line Shopping Guide has an amazing story angle:
"According
to Italy’s National Retailers Association, 7.2 billion Euros was
generated in sales of counterfeit goods in 2006. In 2007,
Confcommercio, the Italian Commerce Federation, found that Italy topped
the list in Europe as a producer of counterfeit goods, slipping down
only to third place on a worldwide scale.
As well as being a
destination for fake luxury goods, Italy is also a major producer of
counterfeit goods. In an article by Robert Galbraith for the
International Herald Tribune, Silvio Paschi, secretary general at
Italy's anti-counterfeiting agency, Indicam, gives the example of a
counterfeit perfume being sold in Europe to illustrate the nature of
the problem. It was an imitation of one of the best- known brands.
After extensive tests, the company that makes the original perfume
realized that the manufacturing effort had been international. The
scent was produced in the Far East, the bottle was made in a Central
European country and the label was designed and attached in Italy."
It
is because of organized crime. It is interesting to note that organized
crime is also likely a leading reason for China being the leading
country of creating and selling counterfeit goods in the world. There
is no rest from counterfeit goods makers, the 'real' companies must be
vigilant by using three concerted efforts: covert, overt and education
of law enforcement. Swiss Authentication has the only non-reverse
engineer-able Authentication marker (that uses an upconversion ability
of the lanthanoid marker). We would be happy to let you know why we
are confident of that statement.(Tony Zafiropoulos)
Tony Zafiropoulos
12/9/2009
Taobao.com cracking down on counterfeits
Chinadaily.com has story about Chinese efforts to reduce counterfeiting:
"As
of now, Taobao.com has cleared nearly 2 million fake brand products and
closed almost 10 thousand online stores wrapped up in selling fake
products.
The e-commerce platform Taobao.com appealed its 145m users to actively participate the event.
Informed sources say it is paving the way for its planned initial public offering of early 2010."
There
are some interesting facts in this story... Taobao.com is the Ebay of
China. There were 2 million fake branded products on this website.
10000 online stores were involved in selling fake products. These are
some sobering statistics admitted by China Daily.(Tony Zafiropoulos)
Tony Zafiropoulos
12/8/2009
Canadian Law Lawyers: Counterfeit Products
articlescollections.com has a story about Canadian Law and counterfeit products,
Tamia Johnson writes the following about Counterfeit products:
"Today
globalization has a big influence on the counterfeit manufacturing. The
exact numbers of counterfeiting consumer goods cant even be calculated.
Very often the fake products are produced on the same factory with the
original ones, without informing the patent holder. The counterfeiting
of consumer goods is in some cases is a very dangerous type of
producing fake goods. The most dangerous in this case are food and
medical products. If these products are manufactured without license
and any production standards can lead to health problems and even
deaths. In some cases food products even contain a mix of cheaper
ingredients instead of the proper product. Also if electronics or
machinery is produced not corresponding to the production and safety
norms, it can lead to accidents.
Apart from the legal means
of punishing the manufacturers who produce the counterfeit goods, the
manufacturers of the original products also change the production
schemes distributing parts of the product to various factories. It
makes cloning of the products harder, by is more risky because if one
of the factories fails to deliver the ordered parts, the whole batch
will be incomplete and the production process will be stopped. Also
lots of manufacturers of expensive goods protect their good with
additional serial numbers or holograms."
The product Authenticity would also be served more effectively if there was a covert authentication marker. (Tony Zafiropoulos)
Tony Zafiropoulos
12/7/2009
Cisco Boxes and product counterfeited
eweek.com has a counterfeit products story:
"According
to a Dec. 3 news release from the Department of Justice, Christopher
Myers, 40, and Timothy Weatherly, 27, both of the Kansas City, Kan.,
area, are facing "one count of conspiracy, 30 counts of trafficking in
counterfeit goods and one count of trafficking in counterfeit labels"
in connection with a scheme that federal investigators say stretched
from China to the United States.
According to documents from the
U.S. Attorney General's Office in Kansas, Myers in 2003 created a
business called Deals Express. Two years later, Weatherly established a
company called Deals Direct. Through their businesses, the two would
allegedly buy counterfeit Cisco-branded computer hardware built in
mainland China and Hong Kong, put counterfeit Cisco labels on it,
package it in counterfeit Cisco boxes and sell it with counterfeit
Cisco manuals."
Myers and Weatherly created a business to take
advantage of the counterfeit products business, specifically Cisco
products. Who knows what kind of products were actually sold.
Manufacturers have to create a covert and overt Authentication Marker program. Then train the authorities on identifying real and fake products. (Tony Zafiropoulos)
Tony Zafiropoulos
12/6/2009
American Apparel & Footwear Association Praises Customs Border Patrol Seizures
Fibre2fashion.com has a story about the CBP efforts against counterfeiting:
"“I
am thrilled that the Senate has swiftly confirmed Victoria Espinel to
serve as the first-ever Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator.
Ms. Espinel’s vast experience dealing with intellectual property issues
will provide President Obama with the necessary knowledge to push
forward important enforcement efforts needed to fight the growing
prevalence of counterfeit products crossing our borders.
“Each
year, Customs and Border Protection(CBP) consistently seizes more
counterfeit apparel, footwear, and fashion accessory products than any
other good imported into the United States. In 2008, fake footwear,
apparel and fashion accessories accounted for more than 58 percent of
all goods confiscated by CBP. Countless millions of dollars are lost
each year because of counterfeiting."
This
announcement is a good overview of what happens to CBP and the country
in regards to the fashion industry. (Tony Zafiropoulos)
Tony Zafiropoulos
12/6/2009
Counterfeit Christmas lights/Electrical Products PRnewswire.com has a story aboutcounterfeit electrical products:
"Counterfeit
Christmas lights are just the tip of the iceberg in the fast-growing
crime of counterfeit electrical products, which now rank 5th among
counterfeit seizures in the United States. Often carrying fake
Underwriters Laboratories, Inc. (UL) labels, counterfeit holiday
lights, extension cords and multiple-outlet power strips pose a threat
to consumers for their potential inability to meet electrical safety
and fire codes. Extension cords with mislabeled, undersized wiring can
overheat, and counterfeit lights are potential fire hazards.
Counterfeiting has now reached epic proportions in a $130 billion
industry -- 90+ percent of which are imported from China.
According
to UL, holographic labels were developed to further thwart the piracy
of UL labels, with the first holograms introduced in 1993 for
decorative lighting strings and outfits. Since the holograms were
successful, additional categories for products manufactured in China
also required holographic labels and more requirements were added last
year including the newest gold holograms."
We have shown the real UL labels (Underwriter Laboratories)
,
there are unfortunately many different looking labels. Which only
increases the confusion. UL should stick to one, and add a covert Authentication Marker. (Tony Zafiropoulos)
Tony Zafiropoulos
12/5/2009
$700,000 Counterfeit clothing capture in Detroit Blog.taragana.com has a story of Detroit Counterfeit clothing bust:
"Detroit police say they’ve confiscated about $700,000 worth of counterfeit big-brand clothing and apparel during two raids.
Police
said Thursday the raids took place Saturday and Tuesday on the city’s
east side. They say two stores were selling cheap goods under labels
including Coach, Polo and Gucci."
The story is the same cheap
knock-offs of brand label products, this time $700k worth, so this is
not a small haul. (Tony Zafiropoulos)
Tony Zafiropoulos
12/4/2009
USA and Canada each have human trafficking Examiner.com strory about how counterfeit products purchases (Minnesota first):
"Minnesota:
Feds caution against counterfeit products. An undercover agent
discovered more than $100,000 worth of material were smuggled from
oversea. The agent states that consumers support organized crime or
human traffickers when purchasing these products.
Calgary:
More on the human trafficking ring in Calgary was discovered. A 52
years old woman is facing multiple charges in relation to her attempt
to sell two women to undercover police officers. She was trying to sell
two women for $4000 dollars each."
The sooner manufacturers create covert and overt authentication markers and start educating their consumers the better. (Tony Zafiropoulos)
Tony Zafiropoulos
12/4/2009
Visit to Shenzhen, where tech is created Crunchgear.com's story of where the techgear is made in Shenzhen, China:
"Greetings
from sunny Shenzhen, just north of Hong Kong. I’ve spent some time in
Asia – at least the tech centers – and have never found a place like
this. It’s like Blade Runner meets 1990s Prague meets the end of the world.
Shenzhen
and the surrounding cities are boom towns, albeit boom towns of 14
million plus people. All of these people are dedicated, in some way, to
the manufacture of items we at CrunchGear write about every day. If it
has chips and a case, someone here is building it. There is lots of
money to be had in this business and there’s lots of money to be had in
the brokering of jobs between suppliers and distributors.
We
believe that machines make our machines. This is not true. Humans make
our machines and they work long hours for a bit of comfort and an
increasing wage. If you think your laptop or even your USB keys plop
out like fully-formed electronic fetuses, think again. Each device we
own has been touched by countless human hands in the process of
prototyping, PCD manufacturing, casing, embossing/printing, and
packaging. We forget this truth at our peril."
The number of
people increases the chance of nefarious activity, especially since
most people in China are underpaid. This is one of the places that
makes technical products, and thus should be under the light. Wherever
there are a lot of shipping, suppliers, and distributors, there are
places of potential shrinkage areas. (Tony Zafiropoulos)
Tony Zafiropoulos
12/3/2009
Counterfeit Goods sold in China online as well
English.cctv.com is a website with a video of a BizChina report:
There
is an online store that sells X-Step shoes for 38Yen, the logo is the
same as the real x-steps, the shoe looks similar, but for 38 yen the
shoe is inferior in quality. The expert below says that there should
be a tag 
in the box stating what factory built the shoe, but it is not there.
Interesting to note that within China there are counterfeit products as well.
The
solution is the same: Provide anti-counterfeit technologies, both
covert and overt techniques and technologies have to be used to combat
the counterfeit goods scourge.
Use Holograms as the overt, and the Authentication marker that we sell. We also added some examples of Authentication markers.
Tony Zafiropoulos
12/2/2009
$2.5 million fine to Ebay over online perfume sales LAtimesblogs.latimes.com has an interesting story:
"Online
auction giant EBay Inc. was slapped with a $2.5-million fine by a Paris
court today for failing to meet the terms of an earlier ruling, which
prevented sales of certain perfume brands to French consumers on its
website.
Separately, EBay has been fighting off luxury goods
and cosmetics manufacturers in courtrooms across the globe over sales
of counterfeit products."
It looks as though Ebay has been in
court over how counterfeit products are being sold on their sales
channel (Ebay) quite often. It is not clear as whether this fine is
indicative of other manufacturers winning more cases against Ebay.
Definitely one way to handle the counterfeit products is to sue all
Internet sales as LVMH has done.(Tony Zafiropoulos)
Tony Zafiropoulos
12/1/2009