2019-07-24 | Counterfeiting and Diversion is Booming in China … So I went to AIPIA Shanghai

Did you know that 80 percent of the world’s counterfeit goods come from China? Everything including luxury goods, cosmetics, wine and spirits, medicine and more are vulnerable to duplication and sometimes the fakes are so similar that it can be hard to determine the real from the phony. With that being said, brand owners across the globe view China’s counterfeiting business as a threat to their own.

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2019-04-25 | State of Emergency: Health and Beauty Counterfeiting and Diversion

There used to be a time when one could discern a fake cosmetic product from an authentic one by just examining the package. Certain external characteristics—or flaws—like a misspelled word or a flimsy material would give it away. Now, printing and imaging technology has evolved and become so inexpensive that counterfeiters can easily obtain it to create packaging that fools even the savviest consumer. Third-party sellers online like Amazon, Jet.com and other smaller e-retailers have made it...

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2019-02-18 | What’s All the Buzz About Counterfeit Wine and Spirits?

In partnership with SafeProof.

Bootlegging alcohol didn’t get left behind in the Prohibition Era. In fact, according to a 2014 report by the World Health Organization, unregulated alcohol makes up 25% of all consumption worldwide. But what are the implications of fake alcohol? Why should everyone from consumers to manufacturers to government entities care? Let’s take a look at the facts.

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2018-06-22 | False reassurance—the real danger behind India's new pharma serialization proposal

India is on the cusp of introducing a new serialization program for domestic pharmaceutical products. Indian officials have designated this new initiative as a track and trace program though it appears from media reports that the proposed mandate will instead be aimed at creating a consumer-based authentication program. The idea is to print a unique serial number on drug packages so that consumers may authenticate the product via an SMS- or call-enabled mechanism to verify the code.

There are...

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2018-06-18 | EU Counterfeiting: Alive and Kicking Still

The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) has just released a comprehensive report on counterfeiting and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) infringement in the European Union.

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2018-03-05 | The Dark Side of the Online Shopping Explosion

The face of shopping has changed. No longer are we heading to malls, or even main street to look for electronics, toys, books, personal goods or even food, but instead simply opening a browser. According to studies, shoppers now make 51% of their purchases online, and the reasons for this are varied. We are using our mobile devices for everything now, including shopping. Our confidence in online security is going up, and e-marketing is getting smarter and more targeted.

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2018-03-02 | The Real Threat of Fake Alcohol: A Q & A with Safeproof.org

If you’ve searched online for information about the dangers and risks of counterfeit alcohol, chances are you’ve encountered Safeproof.org. They’ve been researching, writing and informing the industry and consumers about counterfeit or fake alcohol—creating awareness and tracking the global trends. We reached out to Safeproof.org’s Daniel Dachille to ask some questions about these issues, and the answers are eye-opening!

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2018-02-02 | Cosmetics: Counterfeiting from a Consumer Perspective
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2018-01-05 | Counterfeit Drugs and Patient Safety: A Real Threat

Imagine you or a loved one gets sick. Typically, the first instinct most people have is to see if the illness goes away on its own—like a common cold. If it doesn’t go away or gets worse, you may take the next logical step and get help by visiting a doctor. After visiting the doctor, you receive a diagnosis and a prescription to help pave the way to recovery. Next, the prescription is filled at a local pharmacy and you start taking the medication to get better. This is a shared behavior for...

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2017-11-29 | Could Record Numbers Mean Record Counterfeiting?

Millions of people waited in line for deals, braved the crowds at the mall and scoured the web for just the right sale globally. This was the kickoff to holiday shopping season, and retailers know how important a strong start is to their bottom line. Especially when twenty percent of annual retail sales occur during the holiday season, you can’t take it lightly. With over $14 billion in sales, this holiday shopping weekend set records for online retailers. While shoppers are still recovering...

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