Gift Focus - Jul/Aug 2018 (Issue 108)

ACID CEO Dids Macdonald discusses how to take action against online infringers Globalisation and the internet have been best friends to those who take the fast track to market by counterfeiting. The exponential rise in online IP theft as the internet has grown to literally billions of sites is a critical issue worldwide and provides challenges rarely experienced before, especially for micro and small businesses. The time, expense and crippling effect that blatant online infringement has on businesses is increasingly difficult to manage, and this seemingly insidious and anonymous means of IP theft, with few deterrents, makes enforcement difficult if you don’t know where to turn. To put a scale on the growing threats of online infringement, according to OECD statistics, imports of counterfeit and pirated goods are worth nearly half a trillion dollars a year, or around 2.5 per cent of global imports, and many of the proceeds go to organised crime. In the UK, it is 4 per cent. This means there is even more of an issue nationally. Counterfeiters take advantage of our trust in trademarks and brand names to undermine economies and endanger lives. Fake products crop up in everything from handbags and perfumes to machine parts and chemicals. Footwear is the most copied item. Counterfeiting also produces knockoffs that endanger lives – auto parts that fail, pharmaceuticals that make people sick, toys that harm children, baby formula that provides no nourishment and medical instruments that deliver false readings. Taking action against online infringers by adopting a do it yourself policy can put a huge strain on micro businesses because it is cost and time debilitating, made even more difficult by the fact that online platforms differ in their processes for take down, and their response time is also inconsistent. In one ACID case study, it took more than a month to achieve take down of infringing designs, and this has a negative effect on resources, especially on businesses that are under resourced and unfamiliar with what do to. However, it is worth checking each platform for its guidance and help on IP issues. As a result of pressure from campaigning, online platforms are becoming fighting fakes and copies – how you can prevent it 146 giftfocus