This year was my first attendance at an IACC conference.  I have been involved in anti-counterfeiting for as long as I can remember. Before I finished elementary school, I can remember going to different retail locations and flea markets and purchasing counterfeit samples.  I have now graduated from law school and am in the process of taking the bar exams in both New York and Ontario, Canada.   I have a unique perspective given that I have been involved in counterfeiting my whole life.  Although most of my law school friends were cognizant of my bias, I was and am completely open to hearing both sides of the argument.  The reality is counterfeiting has grown every year and is only getting worse.

There are two schools of thought when it comes to the economic landscape we are all currently facing.  The first is that people can only afford to purchase the necessities so the sales of counterfeit products will significantly decrease.  The second is that most consumers will not be able to afford legitimate goods and will look to a much cheaper market (the counterfeit market) for the purchase of goods.  Personally, I believe in the latter.  There will always be a market for “bargains.”  Most consumers look at knockoffs as a bargain.  Even though the purchase will not be for a ‘necessity’, some consumers will justify the purchase given that they are “saving money” by purchasing knock-offs.

People do not have to step outside their house to receive a knock-off.  It has become too easy for consumers to be ripped off.   The Internet has become a marketplace for anyone, anywhere, anytime.  Having grown up in a household where I was taught the difference between a counterfeit and legitimate product, I am the ‘minority’ when it comes to being a consumer.  It is too easy for consumers to purchase counterfeit goods without even knowing it.  It is hard for consumers to justify paying retail for a product when they can receive an almost identical version (that sometimes functions the exact same way) for a far cheaper price.

The IACC conference opened my eyes to the plethora of brand owners that are actively pursing ways to protect their investments.  It is more than implementing security into their brand.  It is more than serving cease and desist letters.  It is more than suing infringers.  The brand owners have to protect themselves from going out of business.  The best example is looking at the music industry.  Most people I know download illegally and never think twice about it.  I also have friends who are struggling musicians.  For every musician that sells millions of records, think about the number that cannot compete or make any money because people will not pay to support them or their music.   It’s not a problem to the downloader because they don’t see the musician struggling to get their voices and music heard.

During the IACC conference, there was a panel discussion on the problem with the gaming industry.  There are brand owners that have products they developed being knocked off even before their release date.  These companies have spent millions of dollars developing a game that is widely popular.  Due to their popularity, someone who is smart with computers comes along and copies that program and shares it with people (free of charge) just because they can.  The mentality that these companies have so much money and can afford the lost sales does not make much sense.  Anybody who watches the news hears about all these employers laying off their employees.  This is more than just a correlation.  These companies cannot afford to have their product stolen from them.

Eyes open when the media focuses a segment on counterfeit heart medication.  Most fail to realize that you have to stop all counterfeiting (in every industry) if you want to get after the people selling dangerous products.  That does not mean that I believe the punishment for selling a counterfeit t-shirt should be the same as selling counterfeit heart medication.  But what if the person selling a counterfeit t-shirt does not pay taxes and supports organized crime.  Where do we draw the line? The reality is counterfeiting affects everybody, the people who buy fakes and support the problem and the people who are unaware of the problem and simply have to pay higher taxes without knowing why.

As brand owners continue to aggressively protect their brand and collaborate to stop counterfeiters the problem can be managed.  There are companies that, even though popular, are no longer being counterfeited on a mass scale based solely on their reputation of going after infringers.  The end goal is to protect the consumer and provide a marketplace for brands to create jobs for society and capitalize on the products they created.

The author, David S. Lipkus, is employed by Kestenberg, Siegal & Lipkus LLP in Toronto, ON