From: Out-Law.com
EU customs authorities seized an estimated five million more counterfeit items in 2015 than the previous year, an increase of 14%.
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However, intellectual property law expert Iain Connor of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said these figures underestimate the true level of the crime: “Counterfeiting remains a massive problem and no one knows the true scale of it. Given the size of the EU economy and the many channels to the EU single market, I suggest the value is at least 10, if not 100, times bigger than the reported figure.”
Cigarettes remain the most popular product to be counterfeited, followed by “everyday products which could be dangerous to the health and safety of consumers” such as food and beverages, toiletries, medicines, toys and household electrical goods. These account jointly for 25.8% of the total, the Commission said.
