Market Analysis

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The market for counterfeit goods:

1. The primary market: "consumers purchase counterfeit and pirated products believing they have purchased genuine articles."

2. The secondary market: "consumers looking for what they believe to be bargains knowingly buy counterfeit and pirated products." These consumers are aware that they are supporting the parties producing or supplying the fake goods, although they may not be aware of the true nature of those parties.

When the term “counterfeit goods” is mentioned, most consumers think of knock-off Gucci handbags or fake Rolex watches.  However, the market for counterfeit goods has noticeably grown and shifted to encompass not just high-value luxury items, but also common products.  Most consumers might be shocked to find out just how extensive the range of counterfeit products really is. 

Common types of counterfeit goods include:

1. Designer labeled clothes, watches, perfume and cosmetics

Common counterfeited brands include: Abercrombie & Fitch, Burberry, Lacoste, MAC, L’Oreal, Rolex, Seiko, L.A.M.B. (by Gwen Stefani), Columbia, Tory Burch, and Nike, to name a very few

2. Alcohol and tobacco

Common counterfeited brands include: Phillip Morris International brands such as Marlboro , Virginia Slims, Muratti and Diana

3. CDs, DVDs, video and audio tapes

Examples include movies that were bootlegged in movie theatres and music cds that are burned copies of original CDs.

4. Computer software, such as games

Common counterfeited brands include: Microsoft and Sony

5. Vehicle parts

Examples include brake pads, engine parts, windscreens, suspension and steering components, belts, hoses, spark plugs, and oil pumps

6. Jewelry and sunglasses

Common counterfeited brands include: Tiffany & Co., Fendi, Chanel, Cartier, David Yurman, and Oakley

7. Toiletry items, such as shampoo and skin care products

Examples include detergents, deodorants, toothpaste, and dental care products

8. Handbags

Commonly counterfeited brands include: Jimmy Choo, Bulga, Coach, Dooney & Bourke, Luis Vuitton, Gucci, Chloe, and Kate Spade

9. Consumer electronics

Examples include TVs, CD and DVD players, cameras, hair dryers, irons, pressure cookers, deep fryers, and smoke detectors

Common counterfeited brands include: Sony, Motorola, Nintendo, Apple, and Canon

10. Toys

11. Pharmaceuticals

Examples include medicines used for treating cancer, HIV, malaria, diabetes, cholesterol, erectile dysfunction, asthma, antibiotics, pain killers, and vitamins

Frontline pet flea medicine has also been found to be a commonly counterfeited item

 

The following chart depicts the breakdown by percentage of the types of counterfeit goods seized by Customs Agents in the Year 2009.  The values also provide the total number of items seized by U.S. Customs Agents, as well as their total domestic value.

 

 

 

 

Alert: Pharmaceuticals

Sales of counterfeit pharmaceuticals now total approximately $70 billion a year worldwide.

Alert: Software and Vehicle Part

Some 35% of the software installed on computers in 2005 was fake, more than $12 billion in copied auto parts are sold annually, and there have been more than one hundred airline crashes caused by fake (and faulty) parts.

In addition to normal commodities, there are also goods that U.S. Customs consider dangerous. These goods, when counterfeited, contain inherent physical risks for users because of the manner in which the goods are used. For example, counterfeited pharmaceuticals are dangerous to consumers because they may not replicate the real drugs in precise ingredient amounts, which may result in death or injuries

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This chart depicts the breakdown by percentage of the types of counterfeit goods seized by Customs Agents in the Year 2009 which pose the most significant safety and security risks to consumers.  Like the previous chart, the values also provide the total number of these dangerous items seized by U.S. Customs Agents, as well as their total domestic value.

Michael Harvey, A New Way to Combat Product Counterfeiting, 31 Business Horizons, July-Aug. 1988, at 19, 20, available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0007-6813(88)90064-X.

Organisation for Econ. Co-Operation & Dev., The Economic Impact of Counterfeiting and Piracy 12 (2007), http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/13/12/38707619.pdf.

U.S. Customs & Border Protection, U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement, Intellectual Property Rights: Seizure Statistics: Fiscal Year 2009, 7, 10, 12 (2009), http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/trade/priority_trade/ipr/seizure/fy09_stats.ctt/fy09_stats.pdf.