£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