China leads in fake goods

By Vijay Kumar

Of all the fake and counterfeit goods seized by the U.S. Customs Department, 72 percent originated in China. A commerce department of USA expert said in a web cast yesterday that U.S. companies are extremely frustrated with China’s enforcement of IP protection laws. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the electronics industry, where some companies have avoided setting up anything but a sales office for fear that trade secrets would be stolen, reproduced, and then sold competitively against the company that created the IP. But while China is the most obvious violator, it’s not the only one. Other countries that rank high in the counterfeit trade are Russia, Brazil and India.

The US government has a programme called STOP - Strategy Targeting Organized Piracy.