Printscreen from walletpop.com

One of my dear Twitter-friends, TWIYR, sent me a link to this fun "Can you spot the fake product" quiz. Such a great tip and I had so much fun taking the quiz. If you couldn't get enough of the quiz I posted last week, go take this quiz and see if you have a good eye to spot a fake! You might be turning into quite an expert after taking both quizzes! ;)

Photo taken from www.cnbc.com

Did you know that 7 percent of global trade sales is generated from counterfeit goods? Last year, US customs seized counterfeit goods with an estimated street value of more than $ 260 million!

Ever wondered which counterfeit goods are seized most often by US Customs?

The website cnbc.com posted a top 10 of most seized counterfeit goods.

1. Footwear - $ 99.78 million / 38% of total seizures
2. Consumer electronics - $ 31.77 million / 12% of total seizures
3. Handbags/wallets - $ 21.50 million / 8% of total seizures
4. Apparal - $ 21.46 million / 8% of total seizures
5. Watches/parts - $ 15.53 million / 6% of total seizures
6. Computers/hardware - $ 12.54 million / 5% of total seizures
7. Media - $ 11.09 million / 4% of total seizures
8. Pharmaceuticals - $ 11.06 million / 4% of total seizures
9. Jewelry - seizure value $ 10.5 million / 4% of total seizures
10. Toys and electronic games - seizure value $ 5.50 million / 2% of total seizures

For more information, check out the full slide show and learn more.

All information and data taken from www.cnbc.com
Source: US Customs and Border Protection

During a walk through my home town I passed by this store showcasting various Birkin and Kelly look-a-like bags in several colors and sizes.

Pics of the store I passed by showcasting the look-a-like bags.

Hermès bags, and especially the Birkin and Kelly have been extremely popular for years and years. Unfortunately, only the rich and famous are able to purchase one. The price of a basic Birkin nowadays is about 6K euro.

Since most bags are normally only protected by copyright, the designer can only act against an identical copy of the design. However, Hermès is one of the few fashion houses that apparantly finds IP-protection very important. They have managed to register a Community Trademark (3D) Registration for the Birkin!


Community Trademark Registration (3D) ofthe Hermès Birkin

This means that anyone copying the design of the Birkin bag is not only in violation of copyright but also trademark infringement!

With a trademark registration it is possible to act against any use and/or registration of a sign that is (phonetically, visually or conceptually) similar or identical to the registered mark. This will result in a much broader protection than copyright only!

Taking this into consideration, do you believe these bags are infringing Hèrmes' rights?

Tomorrow the World Cup will finally start! I already filled out the office soccer pool and according to my predictions our national team will meet the Brazilian team in the quarter finals ...  whoops! :s 

Today, as a great kick-off, Vanity Fair published pictures the famous photographer Annie Leibovitz took of some great soccer players. Such a great way to get in the mood don't you agree? ;)


Photo from www.vanityfair.com taken by Annie Leibovitz

Well, unfortunately big events such as the World Cup are also always a great opportunity for many companies to earn an extra buck! Sales for t-shirts and merchandise will be huge. And we all know that if there’s cash involved, the counterfeiters always manage to find their way to earn some extra money as well!

For weeks there have been many reports of counterfeit items being seized by authorities in several countries. And according to a research done by Kelkoo 20% of World Cup merchandise may be fake. In addition, 25% of consumers have admitted that they would consider buying counterfeit shirts and products. Shocking!

Since the beginning of this year customs authorities have seized more than 10 million euros worth of fake football apparal mostly manufactured in in China and other Asian countries. And already over 100 cases involving counterfeit World Cup products have been brought to court.

Photo taken from www.dailymail.co.uk

Legitimate sellers like in this picture are suffering from the sales of fakes.

You can find fake shirts and merchandise everywhere in South-Africa and in some cases these fake items are passed on as the real thing. If you want to tell the difference between the real deal and a fake you will have to look out for finer details of the product, like the quality of the fabric and logos. Nowadays lots of these counterfeit items are so close to the originals, it's hard to tell if what you have in your hands is real or not.

If you want to read more i.e. reasons why you should not buy fake shirts and merchandise and tips on how to buy official FIFA World Cup merchandise please check out the article "Up to a Fifth of FIFA World Cup Merchandise May be Fake".

Well, fake or no fake, I wish everyone a fantastic World Cup!!! And may the best country (Holland) win!

Sometimes it's just so hard to establish if an online store is legitimate or not. You really have to have your facts right in order to know if you are dealing with a party that is selling authentic stuff or not. On the other hand, in some occassions, it's just too easy to spot a fake. In this case you can easily see you're dealing with fakes here...

This is the homepage of an online shop selling shoes called ourshoesbox.com. They sell many fake designer shoes among which a lot of fake Christian Louboutin shoes.

 
Does this layout seem familiar to you? Well, it looks a lot like this famous online designer shop!

Check out the layout of the famous webshop Net-a-Porter.com. See the similarities?

 Well, I think I might have even seen the picture on the homepage of Ourshoesbox.com before... Oh, wait a minute! It's copied from Net-a-Porter's online magazine of earlier this year!

Oh, and well, the layout  on the other pages of the website also looks a lot alike...

The counterfeitsite Ourshoesbox.com:

Net-a-porter's site:

The fake Christian Louboutin you would like to order is currently not in stock. But maybe you want to ple-order? It might be a bit difficult to read, but it actually says ple-order, instead of pre-order!!!

Ok, one more clue on how to know that we are dealing with fakes here: the price? It seems a bit low don't you agree?

Check stopfakelouboutin.com to see if a website is selling fake Louboutins or not! Please don't ever buy fakes!

Who doesn't know My Brand's t-shirts, incorporating famous brands in the prints of their t-shirts? Brands such as Chanel, Hermes, YSL and Marc Jacobs.  Their clothing have been worn by many Dutch celebs and are currently flying off the shelves.

Although I would not have expected anything less than these t-shirts being extremely popular among fashionistas in The Netherlands aka "counterfeit-heaven", it is also no surprise to me that Chanel has ordered My Brand to stop selling the "Chanel inspired" t-shirts (because Chanel considers them to be fakes!).

My Brand t-shirts are often called designer inspired, however I prefer to call it infringement!

Something may be called infringement if the sign used by the infringer is identical or similar to a registered trademark (including association with a registered trademark). In case there is a likelihood of confusion (which in my view clearly is the case here), a trademark owner can object against the use of the infringing sign.

And honestly speaking, I'm not sure why people would like to wear something which is obviously fake and not very creatively designed. Why not save up a little bit more and buy something from the designer self instead of a knock-off? I would suggest to steer away from wearing something that makes you look like a wannabe. In my opinion, a real fan of these much coveted authentic brands would stay true to the designer and not buy a cheap fake!

Two questions that need to be answered in this respect:

1. would these t-shirts be equally popular if these brands were not incorporated in the prints?
2. do you think it's fair that My Brand makes a profit using other designer's brands and fame?

Well, you be the judge and decide whether the My Brand t-shirts are designer inspired or simply infringement:



My Brand "Chanel" t-shirt vs. Chanel's interlocking CC logo



My Brand "YSL" t-shirt vs. YSL logo



My Brand "Hermes" dress vs. Hermès logo (they even copied the figurative element)

Donatella Versace in Versace at the Met Gala 2010.

Photo: Sherly Rabbani and Josephine Solimene

Great news for trademark owners! Versace has won $20 million in compensation after winning a counterfeit case against more than 70 stores in Arizona and Southern California.

This reward of $20 million is certainly a break-through in trademark world, since it's one of the highest ever obtained by an Italian company in a trademark case as reported by Reuters.

I am very pleased to see that Versace has managed to be so succesful in their fight against fakes! In my daily work as a trademark attorney I often hear the complaint from my clients that IP protection is so expensive. However, they often underestimate the importance of IP protection, which includes the protection of trademarks (often referred to as brands). Protecting your trademark is basically protecting a company's or a product's reputation, and therefore should not be neglected!

In order to succesfully fight against counterfeits, it's of the utmost importance that trademarks are protected and registered!

Versace has many trademark registrations, all registered in the name of Gianni Versace S.P.A., among which word mark registrations for VERSACE, GIANNI VERSACE, GV and of course their famous Medusa design.



The famous Versace "Medusa" design which is a registered trademark.

Me wearing Diane von Furstenberg dress and Christian Louboutin shoes.

With popularity still growing, Christian Louboutin's shoes are widely copied and sold as authentics. During my regular visits to the trademark databases I stumbled upon a recently registered trademark of the red sole mark by Mr. Louboutin. I am happy to see that he has managed to register the red sole as a color mark in the Benelux and is now waiting for his Community Trademark Application to mature into a registration as well!



Christian Louboutin's Red Sole Mark.

Counterfeiters: hands off! It's not only copyright infringement but also infringement of registered trademark rights when copying Mr. Louboutin's red sole shoes!

eBay recently sent out a petition to everyone who ever bought or sold something on their online marketplace within the European Union. The petition is called: “Demand an end to unfair trade practices”.

In this petition eBay is asking people to sign the petition in order to have the EU competition law amended to stop these so-called “unfair trade practices” so that brands will no longer be able to block the sales of their products at online marketplaces and other websites regardless whether these products are new, second-hand, authentic or fake.

However, eBay did not mention that these brands had decided to take these drastic measures after unfruitful requests to eBay asking them to take appropriate measures against the sale of counterfeit products.

Also, did you know that eBay has been involved in numerous law suits in the past couple of years?

In France, eBay lost a counterfeit lawsuit filed by LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy), which is the owner of  Louis Vuitton , amongst others. According to LVMH, eBay did not take appropriate action against fake Louis Vuitton bags, accessories and fake perfumes being offered on the eBay website. In this case the judge decided that eBay had to pay a fine of 40 million Euros for the sale of counterfeit products of LVMH to LVMH.

Hermès also successfully sued eBay for the sale of two fake Hermès handbags. Both eBay and the seller were sentenced to pay 20,000 Euros to Hermès.

Brand owners Tiffany and L’Oréal were also involved in lawsuits against eBay for the alleged sale of fake products in the past.

And finally, last week, footwear and accessories designer Steve Madden sued eBay for fake watches being sold on their online marketplace. According to Steve Madden eBay has not only failed to remove all watches with the Steve Madden trademark from their website," the Long Island City-based company said. eBay also "has failed to take any steps to police the eBay auction site."

Would you as a buyer not want to have the security of buying an authentic product instead of having the risk of buying a fake? Would it not be much better to know that you can trust online marketplaces for taking all the necessary measures to prevent the sale of counterfeits on their site, giving consumers the confidence that they can safely purchase products on their website?

Before you decide to sign this petition, please think clearly about the consequences of doing so! It looks like brand owners are trying to make it as difficult as possible for us consumers to simply buy and sell stuff online. However, this is not the case. After trying to find a solid partner in online marketplaces to prevent the sales of counterfeit goods with no success, the brand owners find themselves in a position where they apparently have no other options left than to take much more drastic measures.

Therefore buyer beware! If you sign this petition, you might just increase the risk of buying a fake online!

Still not convinced after reading my previous article on fake designer shoes web shops? The New York Daily News also posted a very elaborate and informative article on fake designer shoes web shops. Personally, I believe this article is a must read! Read this article now and hopefully you will understand why buying a fake is simply not acceptable!

Just to give you a highlight. Did you know that:

- tens of thousands of online shoppers are falling for the latest variety of fakes flooding the Internet;
- despite ultra-convincing pictures and claims that the Web sites are run directly by the designers and the footwear is individually crafted in Europe, it's a scam;
- The goods are neither handmade nor exclusive. They are mass-produced in China.

You can read this must read article here.

How to recognize a fake Christian Louboutin shoe:

Picture taken from the original article on the New York Daily News

There is an explosion of websites offering fake designer shoes. Counterfeits of Christian Louboutin’s shoes are being offered on sites such as ChristianLouboutinLondon.com, where shoppers can purchase them for around 70% of the price you would pay for the real deal.

These kind of sites will show pictures of authentic designer shoes, but the actual shoes you purchase will be fake.

Both Retail Week and The Daily Mail have placed articles about this on their website. If you would like to read more on this subject, please click here for the article of Retail Week and here for The Daily Mail.

Just to give you an idea how big this problem really is: while reading the article on The Daily Mail, I noticed this Google add offering obviously is fake Christian Louboutin shoes…

 
Screenshot of the article surrounded by fake 'Christian Louboutins' ads

Remember this silver Balmain dress Kate was wearing at a birthday bash for a London pal a while back? Yes! It's the one that was so tight it ripped at the seam.

Today, I read that a British supermarket chain named Asda will be selling a cheap knock-off version of this Balmain dress, which has been designed by a brand named George, for only GBP 16,-, which is approx. € 18,-. Asda thinks this limited edition dress will be the bestseller of the year and is expecting ‘catfights in the aisle’ for this dress.

What do you think of this imitation Balmain?

Kate wearing Balmain (left) and the imitation sold by Asda (right)   

Click here if you want to read more on this subject.

Photo of seized counterfeits

Shocking and disturbing! Just read in the news that most counterfeits within the European Union have been seized in The Netherlands last year. The Netherlands have a leading position with 65 million out of the 178 million seized counterfeits.

The amount of counterfeits is increasing enormously and is showing a growth of 126% in 2008 compared to 2007, when 79 million counterfeits were seized.

Among these 178 million counterfeits, 20 million were of potential risk for human health, including fake medicines, food stuffs, toys and products for personal hygiene.

Most seized counterfeits were cd’s and dvd’s, good for 44% in total. Followed by cigarettes, clothing and accessories.

It just makes me sad to see that there is no awareness whatsoever in this country and that people are merely looking at what is in their own benefit instead of caring for society and how all these counterfeits are poisoning our world! Perhaps the Dutch really are, as foreigners would say, a bunch of "cheap" people. And that might be the reason why lots of Dutch people live by the rule of "voor een dubbeltje op de eerste rang willen zitten." Which means that you want the best, but you are not willing to pay for it! Hence, our leading position in seized counterfeits!

I have a dream! And that is to see that the world will no longer tolerate counterfeits. In times like these (with the credit crunch) we need to stand still and think of what is really important to all of us. We have been spending money like crazy, to show others how well we are doing. Brands played a big role in all that. You know, we can still distinguish ourselves with wearing certain (designer) brands, but we need to start realizing that authenticity is the key word! That means you should only wear and buy things that are authentic. Don’t be cheap, never buy fake! Fakes are for wannabe’s!

Be an authentic person and ban everything fake!

Je hebt een paar uggs op het oog en vraagt je af of ze echt zijn. In dit artikel focus ik me met name op uggs van UGG Australia van Deckers. Allereerst is er een verschil tussen namaakproducten, de zogenaamde counterfeits en andere ugg-merken. Ugg is de soortnaam voor de soort laarzen van origine afkomstig uit Australië.

UGG Australia is één merk ugg-laars. Er zijn nog vele andere merken die uggs aanbieden (en ook andere modellen). Denk o.a. aan Jumbo en Love from Australia.

UGG Australia is een geregistreerd merk. Zo is het logo van UGG Australia in de Benelux geregistreerd onder het registratienummer 829991 en staat op naam van Deckers Outdoor Corporation, Delaware corporation. Uiteraard hebben zij registraties over de hele wereld!


 

Dit logo is dus eigendom van Deckers en mag niet zonder toestemming van Deckers gebruikt worden door een derde partij. Met name niet door anderen die eveneens ugg-laarzen produceren en verkopen.

Het is anderen toegestaan een ugg-laars te fabriceren en te verkopen met gebruik van hun eigen merk. Het is dus nimmer toegestaan om zonder toestemming het logo van UGG Australia te gebruiken voor ugg-laarzen niet afkomstig van Decker. Dit is inbreuk!!! En dus in strijd met de wet!

De wet bepaalt dat het verboden is namaak te produceren, verkopen en zelfs te bezitten! Het bezit wordt enkel gedoogd omdat het onmogelijk is op te treden tegen al het namaak.

Helaas wordt op het internet meer namaak dan authentieke UGG Australia uggs aangeboden. Voorzichtigheid is dus geboden wanneer je besluit uggs op het internet aan te schaffen.

Wees goed voorbereid en weet wat je koopt!

Klik hier voor meer informatie over hoe je namaak uggs van echte kunt onderscheiden.

Hou daarnaast het volgende nog in gedachte:

Het zogenaamde “echtheidscertificaat” is geen echt echtheidscertificaat en is totaal geen garantie dat het product authentiek is.

De aanwezigheid van het ®-teken op de zool is eveneens geen garantie dat het een authentieke UGG Australia ugg is.

Het vermelden van het ®-teken en echtheidscertificaten is juist een teken dat het zeer waarschijnlijk om neppers gaat, want bij echte uggs van UGG Australia behoeft dat niet gemeld te worden. Daar ga je immers toch al vanuit, dat die kenmerken erbij/eraan zitten? Bovendien zullen de namakers uiteraard alle kenmerken zo goed mogelijk namaken. Als ze al die moeite doen om de laarzen zo echt mogelijk te laten lijken, is het kleine moeite om ook de certificaten en dozen na te maken.

Oftewel, het ®-teken op de zool zegt absoluut niets bij de neppers. De echte UGG Australia uggs hebben dat ®-teken juist om aan namakers aan te geven dat het merk UGG Australia en haar laarzen beschermd zijn!

Nog een goed teken dat de uggs nep zijn? De prijs! Voor niets gaat de zon op! Waarom zou iemand die beweert authentieke ugg-laarzen te verkopen deze ver onder de aanbevolen vraagprijs aanbieden (soms zelfs voor slechts de helft van de prijzen in de winkel)? Met als gevolg dat ze zeer weinig winst of zelfs verlies zullen leiden? Ook deze leverancier moet gewoon zijn boterham verdienen.

Alleen namaakproducten, die voor veel minder geld geproduceerd worden, kunnen ook voor een veel lagere prijs verkocht worden. Deze producten hebben bovendien lagere kosten aangezien ze o.a. geen reclamekosten hebben. Zij teren immers op het succes van UGG Australia.

Biedt de leverancier enorme hoeveelheden uggs aan? Nog een teken dat ze nep zullen zijn. Als de officiële dealers al zoveel moeite hebben om aan voorraden te komen. Hoe komen deze andere verkopers dan met zoveel gemak wel aan tientallen of honderden uggs? Voorkeursbehandeling boven de officiële dealers?

Wees daarnaast er ook op bedacht dat foto’s nooit een garantie zijn. Hoe vaak komt het wel niet voor dat er een authentiek paar gefotografeerd wordt en er vervolgens een geheel ander paar (lees: namaak) bij je bezorgd wordt?

Hou altijd in gedachten dat als een aanbieding te goed om waar te zijn is, dat zeer waarschijnlijk ook zo zal zijn! Helaas maar waar… goedkoop is vaak toch duurkoop!

Succes!

 vs.  

Met het nummer Viva la Vida had Coldplay een wereldhit te pakken. Zowel hier in Nederland als in de Verenigde Staten en Verenigd Koninkrijk bereikten ze de nummer 1 positie.

Helaas voor Coldplay worden ze nu door Joe Satriani beschuldigd van plagiaat. Volgens hem is in het nummer Viva la Vida een gedeelte van zijn instrumentale nummer If I could fly gebruikt, oftewel zijn melodie en akkoordwisselingen zijn gekopieerd door Coldplay en verwerkt in hun nummer. Dit zonder toestemming van Joe Satriani.

Hij eist nu schadevergoeding en vergoeding voor de misgelopen winst.

Volgens Coldplay berust alles op pure toeval dat hun nummer zoveel overeenkomsten vertoont met If I could fly.

Deze claim komt wel voor Coldplay op een zeer ongelegen moment, ze zijn net voor 7 Grammy’s genomineerd (o.a. voor het nummer Viva la Vida en het gelijknamige album).

Oordeel zelf:

Coldplay - Viva la Vida


Joe Satriani – If I could fly


Saillant detail: ik had een mooie bewerking op Youtube gevonden waarbij beide liedjes over elkaar heen werden geplaatst waardoor je nog beter de overeenkomsten/verschillen kon horen van beide nummers. Heel “toevallig” is dit filmpje nu van Youtube verwijderd op verzoek van EMI Music, omdat dit filmpje de auteursrechten zou schenden. Auteursrechten van wie?