Know Someone Who Buys Fakes? You May Want to Give Them a Word of Advice – DON’T!

Not surprisingly, fashion merchandise had the highest figures (measured by the manufacturer’s suggested retail price or “MSRP”) in terms of counterfeit and pirated goods that importers, large and small, attempted to bring in to the US which were seized at the border last year.

Handbags/wallets were the top category at 40%, watches/jewelry came in at “second place” at 15% and wearing apparel/accessories rounded out the top 3 categories at 11%, for a total of 66% of all seized commodities.  These same categories were the 2011 top three types of merchandise as well, albeit at a smaller cumulative figure of 45%.

US Customs is the agency responsible for protecting intellectual property (“IP”) rights holders and American consumers from IP theft on goods entering the country.  Pirated and counterfeit goods pose a threat to America’s economic vitality and the health and safety of its consumers.

Other victims include those whose identities are stolen in the pursuit of con artists attempting to get their counterfeit imports into the US, and who therefore disguise themselves as legitimate businesses and even hold themselves out as that entity when handling transactions.  These victims can include customs brokers, importers and other participants in the international trade supply chain.

 An additional less visible victim are the children who end up being the labor behind these imitation products.

The internet has fueled the explosive growth of small packages of pirated and counterfeit merchandise shipped through express carriers, like FedEX or DHL (unbeknownst to them, of course), and the mail.  Not only is US Customs stopping these shipments at the border but they are also participating in the shutdown of websites that are involved in the trafficking of these goods.

Know someone who buys fakes?  You may want to give them a word of advice – DON’T!

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