car-parts
14 November 2013Copyright

OHIM and Europol to issue counterfeit guidance

Police agency Europol and the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) are finalising guidelines for dealing with fake goods including toys and car brake pads.

The document, known as a strategic overview, will be given to law enforcement officers, brands and any other entities involved in battling illicit trade.

It follows a conference at OHIM’s Alicante headquarters from November 4 to 6, at which brands, law enforcement officers and public officials discussed the increasing problem of counterfeit domestic appliances and automotive parts.

A range of fake goods from electrical appliances to tyres are providing a dangerous threat to consumers, OHIM and Europol believe, meaning EU member states need to have practical ways for responding.

The event was jointly hosted by the EU Observatory on Infringement of Intellectual Property Rights , a network managed by OHIM that helps to share best practices for dealing with infringement, and Europol. About 100 people attended, with brand representatives including Toyota and Honda.

Europol has already published a first draft of the strategic overview according to Phil Lewis, who works at the Observatory, and a second draft is to follow soon.

Speaking to WIPR, Lewis said there was a recognition at the conference that fake domestic appliances and car parts are a serious threat to health and safety.

“In the past, consumers pretty much knew what they were getting, but they are not exactly expecting to pick up fake car parts or counterfeit hairdryers. There is a recognition that something needs be done,” he said.

Some of the big talking points at the meeting, Lewis explained, were that the “supply chain is getting shorter”, particularly as counterfeiters increasingly use the Internet to distribute small packages, and that supply routes are becoming more complex.

Counterfeiters are even buying legitimate products before reverse engineering them and selling fakes in large quantities, Lewis said.

He added that countries including Singapore are more of a “middle man” than before, with fake documents and packaging changed there instead of China, a traditional starting point for counterfeits.

The meeting allows the Observatory to learn lessons for future enforcement, according to Lewis, particularly with the World Cup coming up in Brazil next year.

“We are looking at product counterfeiting but also how matches might be streamed illegally. What the conference allows us to do ... is see if they [infringers] will use the same kind of chains for the World Cup activity.

“Europol and Interpol will have a roadmap, which will serve us well,” he said.

The Observatory was created in 2009 and was transferred to OHIM in 2012.

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