page_title: Counterfeit consumer goods
section_title: General description
hierarchical_section_title: Counterfeit consumer goods / General description
caption_attribution_description: English: Chart of counterfeit goods seized in the U.S. in 2010
context_page_description: Counterfeit consumer goods are goods, often of inferior quality, made or sold under another's brand name without the brand owner's authorization. Sellers of such goods may infringe on either the trademark, patent or copyright of the brand owner by passing off its goods as made by the brand owner. Counterfeit products made up 5 to 7% of world trade in 2013, and in 2014 cost an estimated 2.5 million jobs worldwide, with up to 750,000 jobs lost in the U.S. About 5% of goods imported into the European Union in 2013 were fakes, according to the OECD.
  The colloquial term knockoff is often used interchangeably with counterfeit, although their legal meanings are not identical. Knockoff products are those that copy or imitate the physical appearance of other products but which do not copy the brand name or logo of a trademark. They may still be illegal under trademark laws if they confuse consumers. Counterfeiters can include producers, distributors or retail sellers. Pirated goods are reproductions of copyrighted products used without permission, such as music, movies or software. Exact definitions depend on the laws of various countries.
context_section_description: According to Forbes, in 2018 counterfeiting was the largest criminal enterprise in the world. Sales of counterfeit and pirated goods totals $1.7 trillion per year, which is more than drugs and human trafficking. It is expected to grow to $2.8 trillion and cost 5.4 million jobs by 2022. According to The Counterfeit Report, "China produces 80% of the world's counterfeits and we're supporting China. Whether or not it's their intention to completely undermine and destroy the U.S. economy, we [in the United States] buy about 60% to 80% of the products." It states:
  Companies spend millions or billions of dollars building brands, and building reputations and they're being completely destroyed by Chinese counterfeits. And when you take that across a universe of goods, Americans' confidence in their own products is nonexistent. Retailers, the malls, the retail stores are closing up, and we're becoming a duopoly of Walmart and Amazon.
  The OECD states that counterfeit products encompass all products made to closely imitate the appearance of the product of another as to mislead consumers. Those can include the unauthorized production and distribution of products that are protected by intellectual property rights, such as copyright, trademarks, and trade names. Counterfeiters illegally copy trademarks, which manufacturers have built up based on marketing investments and the recognized quality of their products, in order to fool consumers. Any product that is protected by intellectual property rights is a target for counterfeiters. Piotr Stryszowski, a senior economist at OECD, notes that it is not only the scale of counterfeiting that is alarming, but its rapidly growing scope, which means that now any product with a logo can become a target.
  In many cases, different types of infringements overlap: unauthorized music copying mostly infringes copyright as well as trademarks; fake toys infringe design protection. Counterfeiting therefore involves the related issues of copying packaging, labeling, or any other significant features of the goods.
  Among the leading industries that have been seriously affected by counterfeiting are software, music recordings, motion pictures, luxury goods and fashion clothes, sportswear, perfumes, toys, aircraft components, spare parts and car accessories, and pharmaceuticals. Counterfeit pharmaceuticals are the most profitable sector of illegally copied goods, with lost revenues up to $217 billion per year. Fraudulent drugs are known to harm or kill millions around the world, thereby damaging the brand names and sales of major pharmaceutical manufacturers.
  Since counterfeits are produced illegally, they are not manufactured to comply with relevant safety standards. They will often use cheap, hazardous and unapproved materials or cut costs in some other manner. These unapproved materials can be hazardous to consumers, or the environment.
caption: Growth in seizures of counterfeit goods by the U.S.
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