This year, two reports were published on Intellectual
Property rights violations and their economic impacts worldwide.
The content of both the OECD - EUIPO (2019) Trends in Trade in Counterfeit and Pirated
Goods and EUIPO's 2019 Status Report on IPR
Infringement, are particularly alarming.
The first observation is that, despite stable or even
recessionary economic growth, the volume of counterfeiting
increased between 2014 and 2016 compared to the previous analysis
(2011/2013). In the European Union, counterfeit goods now represent
6.8 percent of imports or €121 billion per year. In 2013, they
represented 5 percent of imports or €85 billion.
The second observation is that criminal networks take advantage
of the lack of enforcement by certain states and adapt their
product distribution by utilizing new means of communication
(Internet, social networks, etc.), distribution channels (transit,
free zones, small parcel shipments) and consumer requests. In
addition, the
