Question: Counterfeit apparel is an informal response to the global market of apparel. Provide a similar example; where does informality intersect with the official market? Why?

The counterfeits, shadowy businesses are growing enormously, taking about $1.2 plus trillion of the industry globally. These counterfeits business sell products for higher prices than the actual brand price.  The counterfeit market takes overs almost all industries from pharmaceutical, luxury to food products to cosmetics and accessories. The counterfeit businesses are at their peak now a days. If we estimate only the cosmetics, clothing, handbag, textiles, watches and footwear industry, the profit a counterfeit earns is about $450 billion which keeps growing. As indicated by The Atlantic. Totally fake physical stores are clearing the Chinese terrain, while purchasers from Sweden to Dubai are landing fake Porches and Ferraris. So in short we can say that the counterfeit goods market is huge in terms of geographies and the money along with being diverse when seeing the replicated products. To get a hold of the footprint counterfeit trade use, it is vital to differentiate the term from those with which it is regularly, and incorrectly, utilized conversely, and including however not constrained to "knock off" and "encroachment." (Buckley, Burton, & Mirza, 2016) This difference is critical, because not like these terms, counterfeits represent a specific egregious form of replication and as a result, are detained to a heightened, specific legal standard. (TFL, 2018)

Example The Counterfeit Products

Fundamentally, for a product to be a counterfeit product it needs to have other brands registered trademark which is federally or one that “substantially vague” from other brand’s trademark. Secondly, a counterfeiter should have been be deliberately and knowingly be using the other brand’s trademark without having the authorization to do that. This always happens when the counterfeit wants to deceive the customer by displaying itself as trademark owner through fake tag and fake logos. Thirdly, with regard to the U.S. law, the trademark that the counterfeited is using, must be registered with the U.S federally in the Trademark and Patent Office, it must also be in the use of the actual holder of the trademark. Fourth, the products which the counterfeiter is producing and selling should be of the kind that are covered by the trademark owner’s registrations; trademarks are itemized by “class of services and goods.” Clothing and footwear, for example, are contained within class 25. Lastly, with the use of the counterfeit trademark there must be confusion, to lead to mistake, or to cheat customers in terms of the actual product source. (Chen, 2018)

Conclusion on The Counterfeit Products

To conclude, we can say that counterfeit products plays a huge role capturing the market share globally. The counterfeit market takes overs almost all industries from pharmaceutical, luxury to food products to cosmetics and accessories. It’s really hard to tell which product is counterfeit and which is real. The counterfeit businesses are at their peak now a days. There are different elements of counterfeit products like a counterfeiter should have been be deliberately and knowingly be using the other brand’s trademark without having the authorization to do that. In my opinion, the counterfeit business is a fraud and unethical practice. Using trademark; logos, symbols, slogans etc. of other company is violating copyrights of an organization. I think such counterfeits should be sued and laws should be passed by the government to ban such firms. One way this could be done is by monitoring the Items, taking various actions to stop counterfeiting firms by laws and regulations and trailing strict actions against counterfeiters.

 References of The Counterfeit Products

Buckley, P. J., Burton, F., & Mirza, H. (2016). The Strategy and Organization of International Business. Springer.

Chen, L. (2018, May 10). 8 Ways Brands Can Fight Counterfeits in China. Retrieved from Harward Business Review: https://hbr.org/2018/05/8-ways-brands-can-fight-counterfeits-in-china

TFL. (2018, October 11). The Counterfeit Report: The Big Business of Fake. Retrieved from The Fashion Law : http://www.thefashionlaw.com/home/the-counterfeit-report-the-impact-on-the-fashion-industry