Abstract
Product counterfeiting is a well-known problem, one that has been with us for a very long time. Trademarks go back to ancient times and where there are trademarks counterfeiting soon follows. Recently more attention is being paid to fighting the problem. It would seem the first logical step would be to determine the size of the counterfeit market. But estimating the extent of this illicit trade is a difficult task. First, no direct measurement of counterfeit trade can be undertaken, since by definition this is an illegal activity. Customs seizures are such a small percentage of overall trade that it is impossible to draw conclusions from these statistics. Many organizations, including the US General Accountability Office (2010), have attempted to estimate the size of the counterfeit market and have described the major flaws in every method which tries to put a dollar size on it. This chapter examines the history of counterfeiting, reviews the challenges of measurement, and describes the products most often counterfeited and the constituencies hurt by the practice. Finally the chapter describes the seven major drivers of the growth in counterfeit trade.
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Chaudhry, P., Zimmerman, A. (2013). The Global Growth of Counterfeit Trade. In: Protecting Your Intellectual Property Rights. Management for Professionals. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5568-4_2
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