Intellectual property (IP) theft surged to over a third of global counterfeiting last month, according to the Canada-based Gieschen Consultancy.
The consultancy says the theft of brands, trademarks and copyrights surged to 36% of global counterfeiting during February.
The total recorded value of fake items sold and seized last month was $76.2 million from 268 incidents in 48 countries, including SA, says Gieschen Consultancy.
SA was listed as one of the countries most active in reporting incidents, with counterfeiting events worth a total of $12.3 million reported last month.
Counterfeit intelligence analyst Glen Gieschen says analysis of arrests, seizures and lawsuits worldwide showed clothing and accessories were the most profitable counterfeits, based on seizures and losses.
In this category, the 21 arrests and lawsuits reported last month involved goods worth around $38 million. Entertainment and software were second on the list, with 50 incidents involving goods worth $18.1 million reported.
Further down on the list were counterfeit medicines, financial instruments (such as cheques and money orders), cigarettes and other goods.
Eighty-six incidents relating to computer equipment and supplies were reported, involving goods with a total value of $1 million.
"February is continuing the trend towards counterfeiting brands, trademarks and copyrights which increased by more than 15% from January," says Gieschen.
"There is an increasing awareness of brand protection technologies and intellectual property protection strategies. The use of digital rights management, digital watermarks, document security, intelligence gathering, nanotechnology, radio frequency identification and security printing are assisting in anti-counterfeit and anti-piracy efforts. Combined with intellectual property enforcement, IP owners are becoming more effective in reducing losses."
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