World Anti-Counterfeit Day 2022

On June 13, the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office, O.A. (SPTO) has celebrated World Anti-Counterfeiting Day with an event open to the public at the SPTO headquarters.

The event began with a welcome from the Director of the SPTO, Mr. José Antonio Gil Celedonio, to all attendees, who highlighted the importance of these meetings to put common ground in the fight against counterfeiting.

Amazon has presented its recently updated Brand Protection Report, which details the tools available to this company to fight against counterfeits and prevent them from being sold on its website. Ms. Mónica Galeote, responsible for the institutional relations of the Amazon businesses in Spain for consumption, competition and sustainability, has given figures that give an idea of ​​the success of these tools, such as the fact that, in 2021, Amazon prevented more than 2.5 millions of attempts to create fraudulent seller accounts, preventing potential offenders from posting a single product for sale. This figure is down from six million attempts last year.

For its part, the Association for the Defense of the Trademark, Andema, with Ms. Amparo Gómez-Amat, has presented the Virtual Museum against Counterfeiting project, carried out in collaboration with the SPTO, which aims to train and inform parents, the educational community and the little ones about the dangers of fakes.

Subsequently, a round table was held, moderated by the Director of the Department of Legal Coordination and International Relations of the SPTO, Ms. Marta Millán, and in which Ms. Josefina Arias, Global Brand Relations Manager at Amazon and Mr. Alfonso participated. Díez, who is Head of the Regional Customs Surveillance Area at the AEAT of the Community of Madrid, and who have shared with the public their work experience in the field of the fight against counterfeiting at the border and public-private collaboration.

Ms. Marta Millán has shared the data on seizures of counterfeits in Spain in 2021 by the State Security Forces and Bodies, and which the Ministry of the Interior has recently published. It highlights that in that year more than 1,000 operations were carried out to combat counterfeiting.

If you were unable to attend the face-to-face event, the recording is available on the SPTO's YouTube channel.