Harmful Effects of Counterfeit Products
Introduction
Manufacturing and trafficking of counterfeit goods have many different harmful threats to consumers. It affects the growth of the original brands and their consumers as the original brands will lose their revenue, replacement costs, publicity etc. Buying Fake products not only brings the bad name and value of a recognized business, but also affects the numbers of buyers towards the original brands.
Counterfeit products also create loopholes in the new opportunities for the brands. Some of the most dangerous counterfeit products are those that are not good for the buyer health and directly affect their livelihood such as Fake medication or drugs related to any health issues, cardiovascular drugs. It may sometimes leads to the several deaths all around the world. There have also been many fake cosmetics and perfumes that have burned the buyer’s skin.
Harmful Effects of counterfeit products are as follows:-
Death by Counterfeit Medicine in the pharmaceutical area.
Fake medicines are now spreading all over the country that includes incorrect dosages .Medicines actually lack the ingredients that are used in the effective genuine drug. For knowing counterfeiters, companies should go for the brand protection security features that are nano-optic labels which is used for implementing unique authentication of medicines, hidden images and bar code are the sources to know the originality of the medicines. This is the way that is helpful for the distributor as well as the manufacturers at small or large scale in dealing with the verified product.
Toxic Toys
According to the survey, the toy industry is a top target for counterfeiters. In the COVID-19 pandemic, online selling of toys increases.So, the quantity of infringing and unregulated products is also going to be compromised. Children are also having a risk of choking due to poor quality toys and loose parts. With insecure authentication there have also been multiple harmful effects of counterfeit product.
Cosmetics
Cosmetics are the one of the common things of which counterfeit items are manufactured. As the growth of social media, e-commerce increases the counterfeiters to market and its fake products to consumers. Presence of counterfeit cosmetics, shampoos, conditioners, sunscreen, toothpaste, body oils, shaving creams etc having high level of the employment losses.
Electronic Components
The manufacture of counterfeit in the field of electric, electromechanical and electronic parts is not a new problem for the industry. But sometimes it creates problems that cost brands billions of dollars annually. Since counterfeit parts often have lower quality it will represent in default Counterfeit consumer electronics also cause injuries, fires, and deaths.
Sports Equipment
The sports industry has been compromised by the fake and unauthorized goods for years. Counterfeit sports lead to the danger of the lives of the sportsmen and deal with the safety measures of the players. Counterfeit of gear are fail to protect the players from injuries as well as compromise performance of the player.
How to prevent counterfeit products
Protection of necessary Intellectual Property rights
When an individual or an organization go for the new product, then it includes lot of processes, content, resources and also lots of time and money are invested. It is natural for the inventor to have the rights over the invention, while excluding others from benefiting from it. This generally provided through IP systems and IP laws. Although it is not mandatory to register an IP or trademark, it provides the inventor certain advantages including ownership or it will also help in preventing counterfeit product.
Civil and Criminal Enforcement of violation
Civil enforcement are available for all kinds of IP protection, but criminal enforcements are available only for violations of trademarks, and copyrights.. It is important to educate the customer about IP rights.
Using technology to safeguard the brand
As the counterfeiting goods are increasing there are new technologies also being advanced used to curb the use of counterfeit products. One of the major technologies used is to track and trace the products and provide end-to-end protection of the supply chain.
Creating awareness about counterfeit products
Creating awareness among the consumers that consumer should know about the brands, its sign, Its names and its purpose. This types of awareness is created through advertisements .So, it is necessary to launch advertisements for the legal brands.
How to fight counterfeit products
- Copyright Registration.
- Patent Registration.
- Trademark Registration.
- Going through litigation.
Enforce the counterfeit listings. - Scan the internet for potential infringements.
What are the legal action under trademark infringement
- Imprisonment for a period not less than six months that may extend to three years.
- A fine that is not less than Rs 50,000 that may extend to Rs 2 lakh.
Conclusion
The main purpose of the Counterfeits is to become the copy of the original brands and it is really important to recognize the fake brands. Some of the characteristics such as missing labels, different place of selling, spelling mistakes on the cover of the product, different color, shape and size of the packaging’s are the important way to distinguish the fake products. Businesses looking to save money by avoiding brand protection solutions on their products open themselves up to counterfeiters which lead to lost revenue and irreparable damage to their brand. A strong brand with loyal customers is an important investment that should be protected. So, it is very important to protect the brands from counterfeit. One of the company named Internet of compliance having the lots of experts that can help in trademark registration and also provide the support in understanding the counterfeit products.
Counterfeiting is a severe crime that involves duplication and thrives on someone’s trademark. A trademark is generally a word, phrase or symbol that identifies the source and it is also easily copied by the fake products.
Counterfeit goods span multiple industries, including apparel, accessories, music, software, medications, cigarettes, automobile and airplane parts, consumer goods, toys, electronics, and more.
As consumers are often not aware of the fake product, as they always blame the real manufacturer if the fake fails to meet their expectations. This can have a bad effect over the original brands as unhappy customers always leave negative reviews on brand review sites
Counterfeit drugs are very dangerous. They are not produced under safe manufacturing conditions and they are not inspected by regulatory authorities. Therefore, it is impossible for consumers to know what ingredients these products actually contain.
The Devastating Effects of Counterfeiting are:-
- Loss of sales revenue and profit margin.
- Over production costs.
- Fraudulent product warranty claims
Counterfeit goods affect the environment as well as society in the following ways:-
Isn’t a victimless crime. Counterfeiting leaves serious, unintended and damaging effects, including exploiting child labour and increased pollution.
