Trademark Infringement And Counterfeiting In The Fashion Industry Essay

TRADEMARK INFRINGEMENT 1

Trademark Infringement and Counterfeiting in the Fashion Industry

In 2012 US Customs and Border officials seized $1.26 Billion, in counterfeit goods (US seizes counterfeit goods worth $1.26 billion in 2012, 2013). Counterfeiting has become so widespread that it has often become difficult to determine which item is the authentic one.

Counterfeit goods fall under the intellectual property law of trademarks. When a trademark has been infringed upon in the fashion industry it is known as counterfeiting. Proving that a trademark has been infringed upon can be very difficult. By reviewing an actual case regarding trademark infringement and counterfeiting in order to understand what trademark infringement and counterfeiting are, how they affect the fashion

Counterfeiting also is a huge burden to law enforcement. Law enforcement must spend large amounts of money in order to combat the counterfeit good trade. Not only is the money being spent, but their time is being taken as well. There are other crimes that law enforcement could be handling, but cannot send their full resources because they are also dealing with the counterfeiting. Finally the consumers are affected as well. Consumers are affected by counterfeit goods everyday by being forced to pay higher prices. Brands are losing money when consumers make the choice to buy the counterfeit good. If there was no counterfeit the consumer would have to buy from the brand itself. Brands that lose money due to counterfeiting are forced to raise their prices in order to combat costs. This then drives the prices up for the consumers who are now forced to pay these higher prices.

As technology continues to increase it is likely that counterfeiting in the fashion industry will as well. Before the internet it was much more difficult to sell counterfeit goods as there was

Tim Faith 12/1/2014 12:30