Wednesday, June 6, 2018
World Anti-Counterfeiting Day - 6th June 2018 - is now in its twentieth year and was established by the GACG Network members to enable the organisation of local, national and regional events under the umbrella of an international campaign which could focus on the particular problems of counterfeiting and piracy in the countries or regions involved.
The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) reported that international trade in counterfeit and pirated products is now worth up to €338 billion (approx. £300 billion) and with this increasing demand for everything to be online, brands, businesses and consumers are now finding the digital world flooded with fake goods.
Counterfeit goods are no longer just found in local markets – they are now easily available across the internet on auction sites, online market places, dedicated websites and social media. These sites are located throughout the world and while they often look legitimate, featuring advertising from reputable companies and accepting major credit cards, essentially they are online havens for theft, enabling criminals to profit from content or intellectual property they had nothing to do with creating.
Websites selling fake goods often look like the real deal. Time and money spent on a good and professional site with high quality imagery, attracts customers and in turn dupes more members of the public. What’s more checking the authenticity of a product is proving to be a lot harder than shopping in your local high-street, as you cannot gauge the look and feel of a product.
DID YOU KNOW..............The experts from Wine Spectator estimate that 20% of the wine consumed worldwide is counterfeit and 30% of alcohol
consumed worldwide is illicit according to the International Center for Alcohol Policies.
This is an issue, which not only generates direct economic loss, damages the image of brands but also presents a health hazard for consumers.
If you have any concerns about counterfeit items in Worcestershire please use REPORT-IT
