Counterfeiting: A Cultural Challenge

Mexican authorities should review not only the law, but also their interpretation of it in order to implement more efficient anti-counterfeiting policies.

In Mexico – as in m any other countries – 'counterfeiting' is understood as the production, reproduction, import, commercialisation, sale, storage, transportation, distribution and offer for sale of products which infringe IP rights, such as trademarks and copyrights.

Piracy and counterfeiting damage Mexican companies by up to $80 million a year, according to the National Chamber of the Transformation Industry, and result in the loss of 480,000 jobs a year. This has led the International Intellectual Property Alliance to include Mexico on its list of 25 countries under observation for failing to fight piracy and counterfeiting adequately and for allowing violations of IP rights to take place.