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14 November 2016Trademarks

WIPR survey: Readers agree about surge in counterfeits

WIPR readers are in agreement that there has been a recent “explosion in counterfeiting” for brand owners.

In October, WIPR reported that Gucci had filed a trademark infringement claim against a group of alleged online counterfeiters.

Gucci filed its lawsuit at the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida on October 10.

The suit said: “Like many other famous trademark owners in the luxury goods market, Gucci suffers ongoing daily and sustained violations of its trademark rights at the hands of counterfeiters and infringers.”

On November 2, sportswear brands Adidas and Reebok filed a similar trademark infringement lawsuit against online counterfeiters, who were allegedly selling fake versions of their clothes.

Adidas and Reebok also claimed false designation of origin and common law unfair competition.

According to the suit, “the recent explosion of counterfeiting over the internet has created an environment which requires companies such as plaintiffs to file a large number of lawsuits” to protect their brands.

Responding to WIPR’s recent survey, which asked whether there has been a recent explosion in counterfeiting, 62.5% of readers agreed.

However, readers appeared to have different reasons why counterfeits have increased.

“While marketplaces claim to have strategies to address and remove counterfeit products, most, if not all, fail, leaving brand owners with the struggle to fight with the marketplaces to have these products removed and/or the sellers banned from selling their products,” one said.

“There is an explosion of counterfeiting, but that is not new. Maybe the counterfeiters are more notorious or they are seeking new markets, or new ways to sell their products. On the other hand, the pre-Christmas season normally comes with increasing figures in the distribution of products (original or counterfeit),” they said.

Another reader added: “There appears to have been more of an explosion of public relations (PR) attempts to publicise relatively minor instances of counterfeiting in an attempt to push for increased criminalisation of such actions.

“The end game for these PR attempts is likely the introduction of criminal sanctions for normal IP infringement in an effort to suppress competition. Unfortunately, this is the way that IP is going—rather than protecting the consumer, it is being used to stamp out competition.”

For this week’s survey, we ask: “Last week, Donald Trump was elected as the next US president. Do you think his administration will be good for intellectual property?”

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More on this story

Trademarks
13 October 2016   Luxury brand Gucci has hit out at online counterfeiters with the filing of a trademark infringement claim.
Trademarks
2 November 2016   German multinational sports clothing company Adidas and athletic apparel business Reebok have filed a lawsuit against a number of online counterfeiters.
Trademarks
13 February 2017   Responding to WIPR’s recent survey, readers have agreed with the International Trademark Association that the global impact of counterfeiting and piracy will hit $4.2 trillion by 2022.