Intellectual property right investigations- a necessity in our country

The crime of forgery and producing forged goods is increasing day by day as more counterfeiters are taking advantage of high profits, low risks of being caught and lack of legal enforcement and the lack of anti counterfeiting investigators. There are many in the market that is ready to finance the manufacturers producing forged goods therefore encouraging grey market crimes. Sadly, our country lacks the law enforcement techniques and enforcement when it comes to tracking down and stopping Intellectual Property Right laws in our country.

Not just in India, but every city and every country has forged items being sold openly in every nook and corner of their markets.  Right from an impeccable copy of a designer outfit to the watch you always wanted but could not afford.  And all these and more are gettable at less than half the price of an original product. Most of the times it becomes apparent that the product is fake, due to it’s price. But, in some cases it is very difficult to figure out if the product is fake or original.

One wonders, why counterfeiting so extensively spread. A few of the reasons include; a lot of brilliant vivid artists are ready to replicate the logos and designs of well-known designers, underdeveloped and developing countries persist to offer cheap, unregulated labourers to counterfeit items of second-rate quality, ignorant consumers like to purchase a product thinking they're getting a great deal, some buyers despite being sentient still buy counterfeit merchandise and continue to do so nonetheless, counterfeit products are placed in decent stores and boutiques where their genuineness is often not questioned and lastly, domestic resources vend black market badges and symbol designs to counterfeiters, which are then placed on sub-quality products. Well, the prime predicament is that as a consumer one feels that counterfeit is harmless and so does the producer of such goods. People believe that there needs to be no guilt involved when they procure counterfeited products, giving it the name of a great deal. What one fails to understand here is that counterfeit products can also be toxic. You might be able to do away with a fake t shirt but It isn’t the same thing when you buy a fake medicine. 

A very important question to ask yourself here is what exactly are you getting out of counterfeit goods in the long run? A degraded company reputation is a price you might have to pay. What if someone is harmed using a product of your company or of your label? You'll be held responsible, and in turn will bear the damages from the consequent media frenzy.

To protect you, Brands and Fakes provide anti-counterfeiting solution by assisting you with intellectual property right investigations. We help you get answers for questions such as, how can you protect your brand against the abuse of counterfeit. Our team's awareness of the counterfeiting menaces, our understanding of law enforcement agencies and our capability to set up substantiation for judicial forfeiture procedures can help your company in its anti-counterfeiting efforts. We are working with many brands to help them enforce their rights in both civil and criminal cases, and consequently have earned our standing as principal choice in the field of counterfeit exposure in India.

Brands and Fakes is thoroughly proverbial with all categories of counterfeiting operations, from cloth stores to mechanical factories. Our investigators have years of experience in tracing the counterfeiters and helping your brand.

Fashionably Fake! : report information on fake products

The fashion industry is one of the most vulnerable segments when it comes to the protection of intellectual property. In the fashion world, creativity and innovation are the driving force of this thriving industry. A unique and intriguing aspect of the fashion domain is that it doesn’t really matter who had the original idea, whoever gives the people what they want in terms of fashion, comes out on top. For example the fashion industry isn’t really research based, it’s about the ongoing trends and who is alert enough to catch on to it, innovate on that basic trend and give the people a new product. New is the keyword in the fashion industry, Things gets old and obsolete even before you know it, what is “in” today may be “out” tomorrow. This fast paced and high competition environment does not really leave any scope for the creator to bother about intellectual property protection or to information on fake products. Another point worth mentioning is that when it comes to fashion goods and accessories it is very easy to cover up work that is copied. A bead here, a sequin there, change the color and voila! You have something new! And such occurrences aren’t really questioned as long as the people get what they want. This pattern of function makes it extremely tedious to identify intellectual property violations and counterfeiting in the fashion industry.

The U.S spends millions of dollars every year in order to ensure the development of innovative textile designs. However in India there isn’t really a mechanism that has been developed to ensure originality and innovation in the fashion industry and on the whole there is a dearth of IPR investigators in India. The share of fake products in the global market has been estimated to be around 8%. These fake products in the import/ export chain seriously affect the economies of many countries and cause the loss of billions of dollars.       

It is evident that a serious need for regulation, control and innovation of intellectual property right solutions in the fashion industry. Clearly, the violators are well aware of the existing laws and are taking advantage of the many loopholes in the IPR laws. Fashion designs are the result of hard work, imagination, creativity and financial investment and therefore these designs must be protected from theft so that the original idea remains and credit goes to whom it is due.

Investigation on Infringement; Vital for Growth of the Society

While the Intellectual Property formalities take place, such as registration of Trade Mark or Patent etc. Before and after these procedures are taken care of, it is extremely imperative for a business or brand to make sure that there is no forged brand, abusing or feigning your businesses’ intellectual property, together with brand name, logo etc. We at Brands and Fakes help you with trademark infringement investigation, since our expert team has the capability and knowledge to classify and analyze intellectual property infringement on behalf of the businesses.

As a brand, one puts in a lot of money and efforts in research and growth of their products and services they provide, for the betterment and health of the consumer purchasing and using these products. Counterfeited products on the other hand hamper the progress of these, ‘created with utmost effort products.’ These unlicensed products, be it jewellery, clothes, DVDs, softwares, end up costing the original product owner millions of Rupees in domestic as well as global market. The unfasten falsification of the forged products are unbolted and barefaced and repeatedly transpire without law enforcement involvement. Brands and Fakes works with several brand owners, volunteers, specialists on Intellectual Property such as trademarks etc to fight such violations on IPR.

In brand name violation and phoney products, ‘cause investigations’ are usually used to investigate and report fake products. For the same substantiation is congregated through investigations by and large is accepted. Investigations in trademark issues take place at large when brand owners and lawyers take into service, investigators to masquerade as patrons, buyers, or counterfeiters to make certain how the assumed infringer or counterfeiter represents himself to the consumers or to establish the foundation of forged or counterfeited goods. These analytical practices are a dependable and well-organized ways to bring together the information on the corrupt usage of a trademark, collect information about trademark forgery or determine information about a suspected infringer.

Such investigations may come about at any time together with the course of litigation that one plans to take up to protect his brand. The investigations count to be essential to establish breach of any kind. They may be used to congregate substantiation if not discoverable, as the suspected infringer would in all probabilities not collaborate. 

Infact, there are high chances that on the way of such exploration, investigators may unequivocally or unreservedly pull the wool over your eyes on who they actually are, may not be honest about the reason of their stopover, questions or interviews, and may also clandestinely record, photograph or videotape others during the visits but only in legal limits. Hence, it is imperative for people from every walk of life to be alert and aware to fight the menace of forgery and hamper the growth of duplicate products.

 

Fake Medicines on the rise- The reality of the fake drug industry in India

Did you ever imagine that the medicines we all turn to when we are sick as a source of comfort and relief could be fake? Or that they could be lethal? Neither of us did, but the cold reality is that there exists a large worldwide network that manufactures and sells drugs that are illicitly produced. These cartels thrive on the desperation and frustration caused by illness and feed on the willingness of people to pay as much as it would take in order to get better. 

According to experts, globally the counterfeit drug industry is worth a mind boggling 90 billion dollars approximately and is responsible for killing approximately 1 million people annually. Apart from its lethal effects, these drugs also cause people to become resistant to other forms of medication. Estimates by the Indian Government and trademark infringement investigations put the number of counterfeit drugs in India at 0.4 percent while it says sub- standard drugs are at 8 percent approximately. However independent studies put the number much higher at around 12-25 percent. As per Indian officials the financial loss caused by the counterfeit medicine industry is around 8.5 billion dollars every year.

These counterfeit medicines contain small amounts of the real drug mixed with additives such as milk powder, glucose, baby formula etc. The Damage caused by counterfeit drugs is usually long term as immediate effects after consumption are not noticed but since drug does not do anything to cure the illness or ailment; it gets prolonged and may reach an advanced stage where real medicines may be ineffective and may lead to the death of the person. Other associated health risks depend on the nature of the filler used. In cases where chalk is used as filler it leads to sedimentation and calcification of the internal organs causing bleeding and hemorrhage. If the filler used is harmful in its natural form then the effects when mixed with actual drugs can be potentially lethal. The most shocking aspect of the counterfeit medicine industry is its inhumanity and a sole aim of pecuniary gain seen in cases where even baby formula was not spared. This counterfeit baby formula when consumed by infants can cause therapeutic failure and resistance to medication which may cause serious health effects during the course of the child’s life. 

There are various methods to spot and report fake products, in this case fake medicines. 

These medicines are usually cheaply packed and the text on the packaging is poorly printed.

• These medicines will be unusually cheaper than the real thing.
• The color tones used on syrup bottles will vary by one or two shades higher or lower.
• Counterfeit tablets may be chalky, irregularly shaped and may leave a white residue when rubbed against the palm.
• Always check for holograms with a field of depth. Any hologram that seems flat and not deep is a sure sign of a fake.

Protect yourself from counterfeit medicines by – 

• Purchasing medicines from government approved pharmacies only
• Always ask for a bill or some proof of purchase
• Do not buy medicines offered at discounts or unusually cheap rates. They could be counterfeit
• Always note down the batch number of medicines you consume

In case you do come across a fake pharmaceutical product be sure to report the fake product to a Brand Protection Service. One of the most popular such services is Brands and fakes.