The survival of a business and of the people who make a business successful relies upon their continual ability to create and produce a specific product or service. Often this ability is threatened by the placement of fake or counterfeit products into the market. A counterfeit is an unauthorized copy of a product, its packaging or its logo and is intended to deceive or defraud both consumers and manufacturers.

Counterfeits are potentially hazardous risks to public health and safety, as they are not subjected to stringent government testing procedures and will often fail to meet expectations for safety, quality and durability. Product counterfeiting is also economically harmful, as industries annually suffer billions of dollars in lost sales revenues, investments and jobs, not to mention the destruction or adverse effects to both company and product reputations.

Traditionally the public and some corporations have associated product counterfeiting with developing countries, such as the Far East, however this could not be further from the truth. With the increase in home based desk top publishing capabilities and the growth of high quality, portable micro-sized technology systems, counterfeiting has become both widespread and local.

In recent years a dramatic increase in product counterfeiting has occurred primarily because of the importance and reliance that manufacturers and consumers have placed on guarantees of quality and brand names. In particular the production and trade of counterfeited goods in popular brand named wares such as videos, CD’s, pre-recorded tapes, perfume and clothing has evolved into a major international fraud problem.

When a manufacturer or licensee suspects that a counterfeit product has shown up in the market, it becomes imperative that all steps are taken to properly identify, report and remove the counterfeit from all lines of sale or distribution. However, business can’t rely totally on federal agencies to prevent counterfeits or infringements of patents, trademarks, and copyrights from entering the country. The only true defense against these corrupt avenues is for businesses to be diligent in all areas of security and to carry out their own investigations.