Trade in counterfeit and pirated goods continues to rise despite a slowdown in the global economy.

According to the Global Brand Counterfeiting Report 2018, the total cost of counterfeiting globally is likely to reach a staggering USD 1.82-trillion next year. Available SA Revenue Services data from 2018 points to equally alarming statistics at home, of the goods worth more than R1.7-billion that were confiscated during the first half 2018, over 80% by value were counterfeit goods.
 
On average‚ there were just over 18 counterfeit goods busts every day in 2018‚ compared with fewer than two for narcotics.
 
Operation Buya Mthetho, a joint operation of all key Johannesburg City departments seized counterfeit goods including footwear, clothing and watches worth an estimated R24-million in December last year from just three buildings in the inner city.

“This IP theft creates an enormous drain on the economy denying it billions in legitimate economic activity and facilitating an “underground economy” that deprives government of revenues, forces job losses and puts products in the hands of consumers that are unreliable and dangerous,” says Mohamed Khader, Partner, Spoor & Fisher.
 
Sars confirms on its website that SA is “losing a large portion of its GDP every year to the illicit economy which includes counterfeit goods”.
 
While counterfeiters copy everything from defence equipment to a bar of soap, the industry with most counterfeit seizures continues to be footwear and clothing. Vying for the infamy together with luxury brands is another frequently copied category of items – sports brands.
 
It is not only counterfeit footwear and apparel that finds buyers, a burgeoning market also exists for counterfeit sports goods and includes safety gear, equipment, golf clubs and pretty much anything that sports a logo. Often made of substandard materials with no safety and quality checks, such products can be dangerous for its users.
 
According to Khader, the global trend of spikes in counterfeit sports merchandise sales can be seen locally too especially around major sporting events.
 
“These small, seemingly innocuous purchases add up.”
 
Online poses a bigger challenge and sellers of counterfeit merchandise pop back up faster than law enforcement and trademark holders can take them down. Globally, the losses suffered by brands due to online counterfeiting amount to USD 323-billion (2017), though with an estimated 70% of counterfeit products now bought online, the figure Is expected rise exponentially.
 
Large shipments of counterfeits goods are routinely intercepted by Customs and Police at our ports; however an ever-growing number of counterfeit goods are going undetected, largely because counterfeiters are bypassing bulk shipment altogether. Instead counterfeits are now being sent individually to e-commerce shoppers.
 
In the US, officials are forced to find and seize counterfeits one-at-a-time in a stream of 250-million individual packages, which enter the country each year.
 
“Now you can order everything from China and receive it at home which make enforcement very difficult. Furthermore, even counterfeiters are now upping their quality game in light of the growing market. In the case of the Nigerian soccer jersey, discerning buyers opted for Thailand AAA quality,” says Khader.
 
This year’s World Intellectual Property Day marked globally on April 26 delves into the world of sports and takes a closer look at how  intellectual property rights are intertwined into the global sports ecosystem. Counterfeiting is not the only challenge the sports industry is grappling with. Some of the other issues include ambush marketing, signal stealing devices to watch pay-per-view matches etc.
 
“The spotlight is welcome. Often people buying counterfeit and fake goods justify the act as a victimless crime. I beg to differ. A fake ticketing racket unearthed following the deadly stampede at the Soweto Derby in 2017 is the case in point,” says Khader in conclusion.