Logo GermanEnglish  

 
 

ARROWS

the international and independend consulting and intelligence company


There were forgeries at every time and there will be counterfeiting in every time. This is a fact the producing industry have to live with.

In the course of the globalisation and because of the enormous fast growing and often uncontrolled data transfer the problem of brand counterfeiting developed to a serious disturbance for the international markets. Today we speak about a volume of more then 410 Billion US$ (cautious estimations) what will removed from the market. Almost every product, every brand could be affected. Only the brand counts, the technical know-how and the chance to sell the falsification with a win!
We have to separate between the not licensed production of an original brand and the selling of this product under the same brand name (typical: Cigarettes, luxury goods like watches, hand-bags …) and the larceny of intellectual property to produce similar or identical products under a new or other brand name (e.g. by industrial espionage or by patent violations) Among the fact that the production and the trade with counterfeited products serves the purpose to get rich at the expense of others we have to note more and more that new structures originated in the last years and their activities caused and cause considerable bigger damage. Counterfeiting and brand piracy have become means to an end to finance fundamental other intentions. The most terror groups or the various parties in regional wars use among other also counterfeiting as an effective help to gain money to buy weapons. In the years connected structures have been developed between the money interested organized crime and the political motivated international terrorism across country and continent frontiers.
But we have to estate that the damage caused by counterfeiting is not only limited to lost market shares.
So often we forget how fast a brand loses its reputation because of a big amount of counterfeited products (most in a bad quality) to cheap prices. This is not a fact which can be negated, particularly within the range of luxury goods. Who wants to have a fine and very expensive watch (which was a symbol of success and richness over the years) if everyone could buy it around the corner for US$ 50?
And there is a further effect of brand piracy we have to mention: The very high and necessary investments for R&D to develop new, high-level products will not get any re-financing if there is a strong damage of the brand’s reputation and/or a big lost because of a glut by cheap counterfeited products on the market. This will lead to a slow-down of innovation processes in the industry and the R&D. A special sample for that we find in the pharmaceutical industry.
Already for many years ARROWS offers support and help to our clients in the battle against the problems of counterfeiting. With the help of our experiences we will together find solutions for the whole problem and not only “island-solution” for a single phenomenon.
If it necessary we start with world-wide analytical overviews related to the presence of forgeries of the clients products and/or brands to determine the exact extend of the problem.
The main and most important part of our service is to identify the criminal structure of relevant persons inside the counterfeiting and selling procedures (production, supply-chain-to-market, infiltration in the market, selling process). These very complex investigations often run across the whole globe. Every time our intension is the same:
  • reducing the illegal production,
  • cutting supplying chains and
  • obstruct the trade with the counterfeited products.

The expediences are manifold to attain these goals and use the complete pallet of all given possibilities. The most important points are the co-operation with the appropriate law enforcements authorities in the concerned regions, sensitisation of responsible political structures, but also re-organisation of security-sensitive procedures in the own enterprise to secure further intellectually and materially assets.

Ones again: The falsification will always accompany our business and private life. It is only necessary to reduce the significance of it.

Please take contact if you have any further questions or requests.
 
 
read more >