Imitating Property is Theft

1. Read the text below and underline examples of counterfeiting.

2. Complete the text with the following sentences.

a However, brand owners often willingly hand over production masters

to counterfeiters without realising it.

b As long as there is a market for a product the copycats will imitate it.

c Peter Lowe, head of the CIB, reckons that some $25bn worth of

counterfeit goods are traded each year over the internet.

d In recent years the counterfeiters have gone from strength to strength.

e Some of these, borrowed from security devices developed for use on

dollar bills, are clearly visible and are intended to help consumers

distinguish fakes from genuine goods.

f Procter & Gamble reckons it spends $3m a year fighting the copycats.

Counterfeiting is on the Increase. Companies Ignore it at their Peril

To most people, counterfeiting means forged currency. But counterfeiters are copying an ever-widening range of products. For some time they have been churning out imitation designer fash­ion, software and CDs. Now they are copying medicines, mobile phones, food and drink, car parts and even tobacco.

1 ________

2 ________ New technology has broadened the range of goods that are vulnerable to copying. It has dramati­cally improved their quality, as well as lowering their cost of production. Where once counterfeits were cheap and shoddy imitations of the real thing, today their packaging and contents (especially for digital products such as software, music CDs and DVDs) often mean they are almost indistinguishable from the genuine article.

A counterfeit, by definition, is some­thing that is copied or imitated without the perpetrator having the right to do it and with the purpose of deceiving or defrauding. Such rights are legally cov­ered by patents (for inventions), copy­right (for artistic works and software), trademarks (for words, pictures, symbols and industrial designs) and other forms of intellectual-property protection.

Counterfeiting is as diverse as any legal business, ranging from back-street sweatshops to full-scale factories. Counterfeiters often get their goods by bribing employees in a company with a valuable brand to hand over manufac­turing moulds or master disks for them to copy. 3________ One of the most frustrating problems for brand owners is when their licensed suppliers and manufacturers "overrun" production lines without permission and then sell the extra goods on the side.

Distribution networks can be as sim­ple as a stall in the street, or a shop on the other side of the world. The internet has been a great help to counterfeiters, giving them detailed information about which goods to copy and allowing them to link consumers and suppliers with ease. 4________

Counterfeiting is not a victimless crime. For a start, legitimate businesses lose sales because of competition from counterfeiters. If their brand loses value (because it is seen as less exclusive or is confused with shoddy imitations), there is a long-term threat to profitability. In addition, firms have to bear the cost of anti-counterfeiting measures. 5________

One strategy that companies increasing­ly use is to load their vulnerable prod­ucts with anti-counterfeiting features. 6________ Companies also use these features, primarily to help them track their products through the supply chain and to distinguish genuine articles from fakes, especially should they need to take the copycats to court. But no amount of effort will ever completely stop the copy­cats. For as long as there is consumer demand, companies will find that imita­tion is the severest form of flattery.