Counterfeit products — mainly clothes — cost the European economy 16 billion euros (US$17.42 billion) a year and result in nearly 200,000 lost jobs, the EU Intellectual Property Office said yesterday.
The findings, based on data from 2018 to 2021, show that fakes take the biggest toll on the clothing sector, costing 12 billion euros annually, or 5.2 percent of its overall revenues, the agency said.
Fake cosmetics account for 3 billion euros of losses, while toys represent 1 billion euros, although the office added that “counterfeiting, like any illegal activity, cannot be accurately measured.”
Photo: AFP
It based its findings on the number of items seized by police as well as the percentage of Europeans who admitted to buying counterfeit products in each country in the bloc.
A study from June last year found that one-third of Europeans deemed it acceptable to buy fake goods if the price of the authentic item was deemed too high — a percentage that rose to half of all youth respondents.
The bulk of the counterfeiting occurred in just five EU member states, with Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Austria accounting for half the yearly losses.
Based on the findings, Germany was losing 40,000 jobs a year, Italy 24,000, and France and Spain 15,000 jobs each, the agency said.
Separately, Uniqlo, part of Fast Retailing Co, sued Chinese retailer Shein in Japan, accusing it of copying its popular Round Mini Shoulder Bag.
The entities that operate the Shein brand must immediately cease sales of “imitation products” and compensate for damages, Fast Retailing said in a statement yesterday.
The bag, sold for about ￥1,500 (US$10.23) in Japan, has become a global hit, with Uniqlo warning consumers about counterfeits and similar products being sold online.
Fast Retailing joins rival Hennes & Mauritz AB in suing Shein for copyright infringement in Hong Kong, where litigation aimed at mitigating the threat posed by the Chinese rival has been under way since 2021.
Uniqlo filed the lawsuit against Roadget Business Pte, Fashion Choice Pte and Shein Japan Co on Dec. 28 at the Tokyo District Court.
“The company filed this complaint because it has determined that the form of the imitation products sold by Shein closely resembles that of its own product,” Fast Retailing said in the statement. “The sale of the imitation products by Shein significantly undermines the high level of customer confidence in the quality of the Uniqlo brand and its products.”
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