DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN FAKE AND GENUINE PRODUCTS: QUALITY OF AN INTELLIGENT CONSUMER

This fast growing market has also resulted in fast growing piracy. Everywhere one sees they can see piracy as the markets are filled with fake products and these do not have a criteria because one can get fake products in all sections be it small consumer daily products like salt, detergent, edible items or big brands of clothing or accessories etc. When in haste it’s very difficult to identify a fake product and when one sees it carefully after coming back and then realize that they have been ripped off.

"It is better to be safe than sorry" is a famous saying that follows in this case as well because its only the consumer who can prevent themselves from being ripped off and cheated. The precautions which have to be taken by the consumers are not very tough and as follows:

1. Stay alerts while buying any product and not be lost in some other world as this gives the chance to fool the consumers.

2. Know the in and out of one's choice of brand as it lowers down the risk of getting fooled as small changes made by the pirates can easily be identified then and those products will not be bought by the consumers.

3. The packaging of a product speaks volume as of the packaging in cheap and low quality then higher chances are that it is fake.

4. The place where you buy the product from also tells a lot because if it’s not registered showroom for big brands then it might be fake and for small products it might be fake when it’s a small or unregistered dealer.

All the above points help to distinguish between the fake and genuine products and can help the consumer from being fooled.

However, there are situations when consumers get cheated and they feel helpless and in these situations they generally give up thinking that there is no way out from the mess. There is a notion that one has to follow lengthy process in order to register their complaints and will have to wait for decisions in consumer courts. This is the major cause because of which 'n' number of consumers do not report fake products and do not file a complaint.

For all these complications there are many on-line portals which has come up and are very reliable and easily accessible and Brands and Fakes is one such on-line platform which acts like a genie for the consumer complaints and provide best solutions for the complaints. So when the action against the pirates is just a click away then why take so much of pain. Even if one is fooled that does not mean that they cannot get justice. Read more at BrandsandFakes.

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ONLINE PLATFORMS: AN INTERFACE BETWEEN CONSUMERS AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

Intellectual property rights are being said as the current rising field and people have started taking notice of it but if we take a close look we see that intellectual property rights are already connected to the consumers in their daily routine and the most evident is trademark law and rights because it is used in daily life of the consumers as they are the one who are majority in contact with the brands be it products or services. There are other branches of intellectual property law like copyright, patent, designs, biodiversity etc. which are not this close to the consumers.

The consumers are exploited on a large scale regularly because of their less knowledge in the field of intellectual property law due to which they do not realize what rights they are entrusted with and how can they exercise it. Law, has always been seen as a tedious subject to deal with either theoretically or practically and this has created a fear in the mind of common people because of which they prefer keeping quiet and getting exploited. They find it difficult to even file a complaint against any wrongful act and especially when it comes to intellectual property rights, the unawareness add to the misery of the consumer.

Consumer who are unaware and have less knowledge in this field acts as a soft target for the pirates as they know that these customers will not take any strict action against them and this actually happens because for consumers it is a very tough task to find a lawyer and get all the work done but as they are unaware that there are easier ways to get such complaints filed like the online portals that are easy and very convenient to use by the individuals.

The next major step which is problematic for the customers is to go for investigation on intellectual property so that there is proper and strong evidence against the pirates and help fighting against brand piracy. This is problematic on the part of consumers as it requires time, money and energy of a consumer and if after these investments they do not get anything in return then it is very disappointing for them.

These problems can be fixed by the online platforms as these help in not only filing complains but also investigation. One such reliable and well received platform is Brands and Fakes which is easy for consumers to use and it also provides with intellectual property rights investigators in India who are not easy to find and are rare in India.

Today, online portals holds an important place and acts as an interface between the consumers and intellectual property problems and making everybody aware about this will help us in dealing and standing against brand piracy and eradicate it from our country.

Read more @ www. brandsandfakes.com.