Food Brand Piracy: Fighting Food Brand Counterfeiting In India Necessary

“Food” what does this word speaks? The word is enough to describe the one of the most valuable part of our life or should I say it’s the basis of our life. If there is no food there is no possibility of life and food and hunger makes a person do many things. It’s a simple answer to the question that why we work that is to earn money and why we earn money because we need to survive and food is an important element of survival but when we see the current scenario there are thousands of food brands which are available in the market and they guarantee the best quality in whatever they sell like biscuits, ice- cream, rice, lenticels, sugar, salt and the list goes on. We also look for brands in these food products because they assure quality which is hard to find in the loose food items sold by the vendors or general retail stores but do you think that the pirates are not smart enough then let me clear it that they are way smarter than the poor consumers because they know very well how to manipulate consumers and especially their target are the unaware lot of the consumers.

Very many food brand owners and consumers both are very troubled because of the fake food brands available in the market. The consumers are troubled because the quality they look for, is not available and also feel cheated as they expect something else than what they get, they are cheated on both levels of monetary as they pay for something else and they get something else and health levels because the fake products uses low and degraded quality of products which directly and adversely affects the health of the consumer. The brand owners are not directly affected by the brand piracy but are indirectly adversely affected as they have their name at the stake. Their brand name is misused and they lose their reputation which leads to loss of customers and further loss of business and money. So we can clearly see that there is a two way loss and these losses can’t be compensated.

The question which comes to our mind after reading this is that then how can we not become a victim of this brand piracy and how can we fight counterfeiting in India? The answer is quite simple which is we need to take precautions rather than looking for the cure.

Both consumers and brand owners need to be aware about the market. While the consumers should keep a full check on the trademarks they use and should check the trademark, the packaging, the maximum retail price, the manufacturing date, the bar code for the product etc. thoroughly before buying where as the brand owners should keep on promoting awareness about their trademark and product in order to keep the consumers well informed about their brand and food product so that the consumers can easily distinguish between the fake and genuine products  which can help in maintenance of quality standards and help both the brand owners and customers to fight against the losses which could occur in future.

Apart from these steps to be followed as a precautionary measure they can also complain for the same if they encounter any such mishap of fake food packaged products they can report the same on the online portals which help in providing a platform to both the brand owners and customers so that they can fight against these pirates and Brands and Fakes is one of such reliable and well received online platform.     

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.

An Efficient Fight against Counterfeiting in India

Presently, one issue that is troublesome at a global level is counterfeit. This vicious circle is so dense that it is becoming more and more difficult for any brand owner to work on any kind of anti-counterfeit activity.

Becoming aware needs to be the foremost priority that one needs to consider for fighting this venom prevailing in the society. Counterfeit is not just affecting the brands and brand owners but is directly affecting the consumers by making available cheaper quality replica products. Up till now, most of the patrons have not realised that counterfeiting and piracy are capable of creating a menace to their wellbeing. At many instances, when people are aware of the presence of fakes, they aren’t able to distinguish between the false products due to the impeccable similarity to the original product.

Fight counterfeiting in India is a cause raised due to the alarming growth rate of the fakes present in the market. Though, the truth remains that counterfeiting is not invincible. A brand owner needs to be aware of his IP rights, that include trademarks, designs and patents, that  make available the ways to tackle the production fake copies. Nevertheless, to enforce such rights demands extensive plan.

There are various specialized agencies including BrandsandFakes that work towards the ways to stop counterfeiting. The priority lies in identifying the fakes. We have number of professional anti-counterfeiting forces and tools that help brand owners to spot and act in opposition to counterfeiting. We work along with a group of Volunteers, Brands, Investigators etc.

Fighting counterfeit isn’t a child’s chore; it is a battle that the society needs to fight together, hand in hand. People from different walks of life need to get together and battle against this evil. Intellectual property right plays a momentous function in our economy too; it encourages creativity, art and research of any form and allows the reinforcement of competitive positioning of individuals and companies in the economy. Counterfeited goods, ground a serious threat to the development of the economy. Many organisations make huge profits through forged designs and signs which are protected by intellectual property rights.

Counterfeiting and piracy are concepts which are generally used to indicate a violation of intellectual property rights, this means that certain acts are carried out without the consent of the intellectual property right holder and need to be stopped immediately. As individuals, what we really need to do is, focus and be aware; this will help the society to fight the battle against counterfeit.

Where to Find Data on IPR Violations for Brand Protection in India

Upon becoming aware that your brand is being infringed by another person/entity using an identical or a deceptively similar name/word, the first action – after recovering from your first reaction of shock – is to find out information on fake products and brand. There are many ways to collect such information and different places from where such information can be gathered. The present article gives a brief insight about the two most important methods and/or places from where such data can be gathered.

The first resource, in this digital era, is the internet. There is, practically, no information which cannot be got from the internet – that is if you know how to phrase search strings and if you know in which websites you should look into. The internet, in relation to material about infringing products, has a plethora of websites which lets you gather valuable information and if not, which provides you with leads. Starting from the infringer’s own website, if any, there are other directory websites which provide a listing of products, manufacturers, distributors, types of products, pictures of products, addresses and places where such products are sold. Many a times, the manufacturers themselves approach these websites to enlist their entity and product in order to advertise their products. These websites may be found by a single click on ‘Google’ when you type the infringing product’s name, to begin with.

Going further, in the event the infringing entity is registered as a limited company, the website of the Registrar of Companies provides a detailed set of information about the type of Company, its financial magnitude, information on its directors, year of registration, etc. all of which is very valuable information in the event your action to protect your brand(s) leads you to a legal proceeding.

Aside from the internet, is the good old way and probably, the most effective one still, is the physical investigation which is carried out by employing an experienced investigator who visits the place of the infringer – manufacturing facility, office premises, distribution office, warehouse, etc. – and collects as much information as possible including pictures, receipts and samples of infringing products.

While, a brand owner might not be able to directly do all this research and investigation, it is possible, and in fact better, for them to approach entities which provide brand protection services in India. These entities are well experienced with the places from where data can be gathered and also in the process of investigation, which provides brand owners with a great amount of information about the infringing product(s), thereby, allowing them to prepare and proceed with their actions against such products.