Conference 'The fight against counterfeiting and the infringement of IP rights: towards a National Plan'

'They are not alike'

One of the after-effects of the current global market is the sharp increase of counterfeiting, which infringes the industrial and intellectual property rights of those who with their effort and investment create products tailored to users and provide high-quality employment. This is the reason why Reyes Maroto, Principal of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism (MINCOTUR), chaired the conference 'The fight against counterfeiting and the infringement of IP rights: towards a National Plan' past December 17th at the SPTO headquarters. The act was also attended, among others, by FernandoValdés, SPTO President and José Antonio Gil Celedonio, SPTO Director.

In this context, the MINCOTUR launched its campaign 'Be responsible with your shopping, there is a lot at stake', with the intention of making consumers aware that their purchases can have a deep impact on the economy in general and on the commercial sector in particular. Therefore, the Ministry recommends going to local shops which sell guaranteed legal products. The campaign consists in a series of advertisements for radio and posters for press and social networks which convey the message that two products apparently identical '...are not alike' because 'If you buy original products and discard counterfeit ones, you generate employment, culture, innovation, business projects ... In addition, you are protecting your rights as a consumer and you contribute, even if you do not believe it, to fight against labour exploitation'.

During the conference, Reyes Maroto displayed in figures what is an undeniable reality, counterfeiting causes the loss of 6,175 million euros in commercial sales and the destruction of 67,000 direct jobs per year, in addition it causes risks for consumers health, whose rights turn out to be limited by the lack of guarantees that counterfeit products entail. The huge scale of the problem makes the cooperation between central, regional and local administrations necessary. In this sense, the Ministry of Industry is preparing a National Anti-Counterfeiting Plan 2019-2020 with a four-axis approach: coordination between administrations, regulation, education and awareness-raising, and analysis of the situation.

The results of the Report on measures to fight against those activities that infringe IP rights were also analysed during the event in order to support these figures. The report highlights the negative consequences that counterfeit products have on fiscal income, health and safety, as well as on trademarks reputation and innovation, not to mention their harmful effects on the environment. For all these reasons, we strongly urge you to make us all the best gift possible in this Christmas time, to create a fair society with a bright future, because that apparent bargain hides a very high price that nobody wants to pay.