Knockoff News 18
A weekly (or thereabouts) collection of news about counterfeits, fakes, knockoffs, replicas, imitations, and the culture of copying in general around the globe:
- Oh no Canada! Lax laws open loophole for importing counterfeits
- Northern exposure: Counterfeits reach British Columbia
- Torched: Olympic fakes targeted by Chinese authorities
- Out of bounds: Counterfeits a major problem for China's sporting goods biz
- Voice of America speaks out against Chinese fakes
- How companies fight counterfeits in online auctions, stores
- India's burgeoning counterfeit trade
- Firms fight fakes in India
- Cut! Knockoffs net two years in jail for Hollywood vendor
- Motorola cuts off Korean Razr knockoffs
And on a strategic point, Counterfeit Chic has noticed a recent uptick in efforts to blacken the otherwise legal grey market by association with fakes. (The grey market -- or gray market, if you prefer -- consists of legitmate goods authorized for sale in one market but instead exported for sale in another market to take advantage of differences in price (i.e. arbitrage) or other factors like local taste or exclusivity. These "parallel imports" generally don't violate intellectual property law but may run afoul of contractual agreements with distributors or retailers.)
With all of the current attention to knockoffs, it would be a coup for producers to blur the line between grey market goods, on the one hand, and counterfeits or stolen goods, on the other. This would subject the operation of the grey market to greater scrutiny -- thus increasing producers' ability to engage in market differentiation while limiting the ability of the market to deliver goods to consumers.
At the moment, Commonwealth countries seem to be most vocal -- last week, New Zealand, this week, the U.K. -- but stay tuned.
