Anti-Counterfeiting

Intellectual Property Crime

Intellectual property crime includes a range of offenses, such as product counterfeiting and copyright piracy, which violate the rights of trademark, patent, and copyright owners. IP crime is an identified, persistent, and direct threat to individual and collective human health, public safety, and the environment. Counterfeit goods are illegal, and while many people may view counterfeiting as a harmless crime, counterfeits are also extremely dangerous. 

Why are counterfeit goods dangerous?

Consumer safety 

• Counterfeit consumer goods are made with cheap or even unsafe materials that can cause injury, harm, property damage, or even death.
• Counterfeit products may even contain counterfeit safety markings — deceiving consumers into thinking they are buying products that conform to safety standards.
• Counterfeit products that include lithium batteries or lithium-ion batteries carry a significantly higher risk of exploding or catching fire, leading to property damage, injury, and death.
• Counterfeit products that are meant to be ingested or applied topically have been known to contain hazardous chemicals or toxins. For example, counterfeit perfumes can contain animal urine and cause sickness or rashes, counterfeit contact lenses can cause permanent blindness, and counterfeit children’s cough medicines have contained antifreeze, leading to hundreds of deaths.  

Environmental safety 

• Counterfeit products typically cannot be recycled; they must be destroyed or sent to landfills.
• In many parts of the world, seized counterfeits are buried or burned, causing pollution and contamination.
• Some counterfeit products, such as counterfeit pesticides, include chemicals that can destroy crops and farmland for years after usage.

Law enforcement safety

• Law enforcement, customs officials, and other officials often handle counterfeits that contain dangerous unknown chemicals, which can cause serious side effects.
• Counterfeit lithium batteries and related products can catch fire and explode during transport and storage.

Financial harm

• Seizing, handling, storing, and safely destroying counterfeit products can be very costly, and this cost is rarely covered by the counterfeiters.
• Reputable companies not only lose revenue to counterfeiters; they can also lose customer loyalty when their brand quality is diminished by inexpensive, poorly made counterfeits of their merchandise.

Human exploitation

• Counterfeit goods fund transnational organized crime. 
• Counterfeit product production often contributes to other crimes such as human trafficking, forced labor, and child slavery.  

How does UL Standards & Engagement combat IP crime?

The ULSE Anti-Counterfeiting team plays a major role in fighting IP crime through the International IP Crime Investigators College, a law enforcement training initiative, led in cooperation with INTERPOL. IIPCIC is the only fully interactive online training platform providing global law enforcement with a free, broad-based curriculum on combatting transnational organized intellectual property crime. The college plays a unique role in safety by educating and protecting our first line of defense against counterfeit products. Since its inception in 2010, the college has trained over 38,000 people representing 182 countries. 

What is the International IP Crime Conference?

UL Standards & Engagement also combats IP Crime through partnering with INTERPOL to cohost the International IP Crime Conference for law enforcement and private sector professionals. This annual event provides an exceptional platform for front-line personnel and decision-makers to collaborate, network, discuss best practices, share insights, and explore innovative approaches. The interactive agenda aims to enhance capabilities, expand knowledge, increase expertise, and cultivate readiness to overcome IP crime challenges, particularly those involving transnational, organized IP crime and interrelated illicit trade activities.