Saturday, September 30, 2006

Publicity As A Proactive Deterrent Against Counterfeiting

Ray Parry, editor-in-chief of counterfeit.com, wrote an interesting article: The Great Gall of China? Counterfeit.com is according to the site an online voice for the anti-counterfeiting industry.

Parry proposes the following as a proactive, deterrent-type, IP protection programme specifically addressing China:

"Well first, brand owners should develop strong relationships with their home base country’s Chinese embassy and then, which is patently obvious, ensure that any trademark or copyright is registered in China."

"Next (and this is a really novel twist) publicise the fact that protection exists, in Chinese of course, on a continuous basis in major Chinese newspapers such as the Xinhua Reference News which has the largest daily circulation in China. If currently manufacturing or intending to manufacture in the country, publish also in the province or area where the production facility is located. In my experience, perhaps inexplicably, this form of direct, public, approach can often have the desired deterrent effect and persuade would-be counterfeiters, not to stop their activities of course, but to move on to other branded items apparently not subject to the same exposure."

Read Parry's elaborate article here.

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