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When a few months ago, two new luxury fashion boutiques opened in the Chinese city of Renhuai, it was difficult to distinguish that their products were fake.
The shops, which appeared to belong to the luxury brands Louis Vuitton and Prada They showed huge pictures of models posing with legitimate appearance products , while the shelves were filled with stylish bags and accessories.
. One of these stores was called "Loius Vuitton" and the other "Plada" .
It's the world of intellectual property theft that costs European companies 60,000 million (US $ 68,000 million) in lost sales each year Intellectual Property Office of the European Union.
Buy false
E l 7% More than 26,000 EU citizens interviewed by the Office of Intellectual Property dij or ] who intentionally purchased counterfeit goods in the last 12 months.
Critics argue that this black market stifles the development of innovative start-ups and that results in the loss of jobs .
"There are also strong links between counterfeiting and organized crime and child labor," says Alex Newman, IP expert at the law firm Irwin Mitchell in the UK.
Authorities shut down Renhuai's fake shops in a few days, but other major brands operating in China have not had that chance.
In 2016, for example, Apple lost a trademark battle against a Chinese company that was selling handbags and other items. leather with the name IPHONE.
World Problem
China is among a number of countries designated as sources of intellectual property theft but companies say the problem is global.
"We have seen copies for many decades, starting in the late 1940s, and we are facing a persistent problem," said Roar Rude Trangbæk, spokesman for Lego, a Danish company that manufactures plastic ghettos.
"The only difference is that with globalization a problem that was previously contained is now global."
Traditionally, property rights violations include theft of trademarks or patent infringement, although copying of products is the most common.
For example, supermarkets produce products that look like branded products and even have similar names.
In August, for example, the British family sausage company Heck and the New Zealand yogurt maker The Collective. They accused the German supermarket Aldi of copying their products.
The supermarket, for its part, alleged that none of its customers had complained of having been deceived and that it complied with a "strict regulation of the right to property." # 39; author. " are considering bringing a lawsuit.
Amelia Harvey, co-founder of The Collective, told the BBC: "Their strategy is clear, they rest on other brands and are recreated, they are misleading the consumer by asking him to do it." buy something, it's not ".
"For us, entrepreneurial brand made up of a small team, it's more than frustrating."
Newman attorney says that supermarkets often come out badly. "adjustments" so that the products are not identical and "argue that the differences are sufficient to avoid the infringement".
Copying as a strategy
Similar problems occur in the fashion industry where copying charges are common
In November, British retailer Next reached an agreement with fashion brand Scamp & Dude on charges that he had copied the firm's designs.
Next was accused of having "obvious infringement" of a children's animal print t-shirt and the garment even imitated the Scamp & Dude logo.
"Often, by the time the design rights holder manages to do something, the Newman company explains that the accused will be about to sell all the items in question," he explains. -he.
"So you will gain time to say," We have stopped selling this item, "which is not worth it to spend time and money on to bring it to court because the eventual financial payment is not will not justify the cost, "he adds.
How to Protect themselves
To cover themselves, companies must ensure that they have trademarks and other forms of intellectual property in any country where [19659003ButmanystilldonotcaresaysSonaliParekhpolicyofficerattheUnitedKingdom'sSmallBusinessFederation(FSB)Sheattributesthelackofawarenessandconcernaboutcosts
"It is also feared that if you register a patent, you would warn people of your design and others would modify it and then copy it," he says.
"But if you do nothing, you leave your business even more exposed ," Parekh badysis.
Clearly, companies should also ask suspected copiers to stop doing so, although about one-third of companies whose intellectual property rights have been infringed do not take any action, says the FSB.
Newman believes that this is false.
Even if, ultimately, no legal action is brought, a letter requiring the cessation of unlawful activities often resolves the problem without recourse to the courts and may even lead to a financial settlement , he advises.
For Those Who Operate in Foreign Markets, Become Familiar With Local laws on intellectual property, which vary widely from country to country, are essential, although applications like China reinforce their application.
In November, for example, Lego earned about 4.5 million yuan (about 647,000 USD). ) in a lawsuit filed by Chinese companies that had sold copies under the name "Lepin"
At that time, the Danish toy manufacturer had praised "the constant efforts of the Chinese authorities to protect intellectual property ". [19659003] "We do not care about fair competition, but unfair competition is bad for the simple reason that consumers are deceived and our rights are violated ," said Rude Trangbæk, who hopes that these victories will be a warning to future counterfeiters.
"Our brand is renowned for being of high quality and consumers need to know that what they buy is genuine Lego," said the company's spokesperson.
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