Well, it is the recession and displaced people are popping up everywhere, even right in your neighborhood. But they have to survive and so circumstances have brought them to seek out new jobs, like selling fakes for a living! It is not surprising though, even somebody from your siblings might be resorting to this. For a starter, we have plenty of factories ever ready to churn out counter-fakes on the sleaze as they would otherwise have to close down due to the biting recession worldwide. This scenario is especially happening in China. It is unethical you might say, but no matter. To make matters worse, there is no shortage of buyers at that. These opportunists bring with them bags of cash to throw in front of factory managers, requesting to buy up large amounts of goods bearing top brands. And the poor managers, their eyes half opened due to deprived sleep from worrying over whether to close down the factory for lack of activity just could not resist the cash up front shoved into their faces.
Indeed, if there is one thing that the recession has thrown up, it is the dare devil get it done brand of the counterfeiters. Often, these opportunists are entrepreneurs that would not pass off an opportunity come what may. And given the many ways where you can discretely dispose of the fakes, there is indeed no short of counterfeiters operating from posh offices that do not even arouse any suspicions. You can now put up a website, and one that looks very legitimate and classy, and canvas for buyers from anywhere in the world. There is no shortage of buyers if you are selling branded items that cost less than high street fronts. Buyers don’t care if they are fakes because some of their friends had bought one and would vouched that it is even better made than the originals!
Sigh, the days of genuine product sellers are numbered, if this recession does not come to an end soon. What do you expect people to continue to pay top dollars for the real ones when their jobs are in danger of vanishing or their salaries been drastically reduced. They still have to put up a great front in front of their siblings; otherwise they could face worse rejection, often from those that are near to them on a social scale. It has all being the case that in an economic depression, the one thing that sells well is cosmetics! And personal accessories as well! So quick learning entrepreneurs have beaten the path to factories that have the capability to make top branded luxuries with a quality that exceeds even that of the originals! They have the cash, and their orders are just mouth watering. And the sellers have no problem finding eager agents distributing them all over the place as unemployed people are everywhere. Often, the fastest and most discrete method of disposing off these fakes is through direct selling. Straight to the consumers at sleazy haunts like eateries and back lanes of the capitals of the world.
Now, things are not getting better for the small fries either because their unbranded stuffs is finding no buyers. There is nothing much they can do, except perhaps filing for registration of their brands and trademarks, before it becomes something that others might want to fake in a future repeat of the current economic depression. If they pay attention to their intellectual assets now, someday at least, they or their offspring might benefit. If this counterfeiting gets out of hand, and especially if high technologies are used to produce them, there is a fear that original product manufacturers might cease to exist. One way the authorities can help is to put enforcement a top priority so that counterfeiters are brought to court and fine. But with counterfeiting mushrooming in third world countries, and even in the streets of New York, there is a need to beef up the forces and required manpower to punish counterfeiters on a global scale before you and me are brainwashed into accepting these fakes as a better buy than the real stuffs!
Terry Yap
If you are a genuine product manufacturer and you are concerned with counterfeiters robbing you off your money, one way is to take a closer look at protecting your intellectual assets. Unfortunately, patents and trademarks are very confusing subjects and you will need expert advise in order to be effective and to take the right path. In case you do need a third opinion, why not pay a visit to your patent and trademark agent for a free opinion.
