• Piratkopierade produkter tillverkas med mindre hänsyn till arbetsvillkor och hållbarhet.
  • Försäljning av piratkopierade produkter ökar i sociala medier.
  • Samarbete mellan myndigheter och rättighetshavare kan minska risken att förfalskade varor kommer in i Sverige.

Det var tre centrala budskap på ett seminarium om aktuella immaterialrättsliga frågor som Swedish Anti-Counterfeiting Group (SACG) hade på årsmötet den 14 juni, då man också firade organisationens 20-årsjubileum.

Swedish Anti-Counterfeiting Group (SACG) held its annual meeting on June 14, 2017, and simultaneously celebrated its 20th anniversary by discussing several important topics, such as the importance of information exchange between authorities and rights holders in combating counterfeit products from entering Sweden in the first place; the impact social media has had in establishing a new forum for selling counterfeit products; and the need to understand that addressing counterfeit products is also about a company’s control over all goods bearing its brand and the company’s ability to ensuring its sustainability efforts.

Speakers from a variety of sectors, governmental authorities, and companies were invited to discuss some of the most prominent topics in the anti-counterfeiting world.

One such topic was that of information exchange between authorities and rights holders and how to increase the information flow between these parties in combating counterfeit products from entering Sweden in the first place. Though communication has increased significantly between Swedish Boarder Control and Prosecutors in the last 20 years, more collaboration with private parties is also sought after. In particular, Tina Åström, SKF, suggested that her work in identifying counterfeit products before entering the Swedish market, would be made easier if the shipping entry information would be made publicly available. The main issue, Ms. Åström and many others are faced with is that parties producing and shipping such counterfeit products are ever changing and identifying them after counterfeit products have been seized is nearly impossible. With such information, however, the hope is to get to the source before the products get into the country. A notable development in recent years is that Sweden has established dedicated IP prosecutors, who are knowledgeable enough to properly prosecute such cases.

Another transformation we have seen in recent years is that counterfeit trade has moved into smaller packages and the online retail sector. Rights holder, Daniel Wellington started its business as an “online first” business model and has been successful in this modern approach. However, in recent years, it has had to rethink its business model and devise its anti-counterfeiting work accordingly. As Simon Baggs, Incopro, illustrated in his presentation, social media has become a forum for counterfeit products to be sold effectively and efficiently. These social media accounts, such as Instagram, Facebook, and even the highly popular WeChat forum, can reach more people than ever before. The ability to simple delete the social media account and open another one in just minutes, makes prosecution of these individuals nearly impossible. The answer, Simon Baggs, suggested is for these social media forums to disallow and monitor such accounts in the first place.

Anti-counterfeiting work is however, not only about IP rights, but also about a company’s control over all goods bearing its brand. As Pernilla Halldin, H&M, explained, counterfeit goods are often manufactured under much poorer working conditions than the original goods and may also be made of other raw materials. Preventing counterfeits is therefore, also about ensuring a company’s sustainability efforts.

In connection with this, ICC Sweden was also invited to launch the newest version of the ICC Intellectual Property Roadmap, in which the ICC addressed some prominent changes in the IP world, which have developed through the geographical and technological changes, as well as the interplay of societal and political issues and changes pertaining to the way businesses operate. For more information about this publication, please click here.