This fast growing market has also resulted in fast growing piracy. Everywhere one sees they can see piracy as the markets are filled with fake products and these do not have a criteria because one can get fake products in all sections be it small consumer daily products like salt, detergent, edible items or big brands of clothing or accessories etc. When in haste it’s very difficult to identify a fake product and when one sees it carefully after coming back and then realize that they have been ripped off.
"It is better to be safe than sorry" is a famous saying that follows in this case as well because its only the consumer who can prevent themselves from being ripped off and cheated. The precautions which have to be taken by the consumers are not very tough and as follows: 1. Stay alerts while buying any product and not be lost in some other world as this gives the chance to fool the consumers. 2. Know the in and out of one's choice of brand as it lowers down the risk of getting fooled as small changes made by the pirates can easily be identified then and those products will not be bought by the consumers. 3. The packaging of a product speaks volume as of the packaging in cheap and low quality then higher chances are that it is fake. 4. The place where you buy the product from also tells a lot because if it’s not registered showroom for big brands then it might be fake and for small products it might be fake when it’s a small or unregistered dealer. All the above points help to distinguish between the fake and genuine products and can help the consumer from being fooled. However, there are situations when consumers get cheated and they feel helpless and in these situations they generally give up thinking that there is no way out from the mess. There is a notion that one has to follow lengthy process in order to register their complaints and will have to wait for decisions in consumer courts. This is the major cause because of which 'n' number of consumers do not report fake products and do not file a complaint. For all these complications there are many on-line portals which has come up and are very reliable and easily accessible and Brands and Fakes is one such on-line platform which acts like a genie for the consumer complaints and provide best solutions for the complaints. So when the action against the pirates is just a click away then why take so much of pain. Even if one is fooled that does not mean that they cannot get justice. Read more at BrandsandFakes. Intellectual property rights are being said as the current rising field and people have started taking notice of it but if we take a close look we see that intellectual property rights are already connected to the consumers in their daily routine and the most evident is trademark law and rights because it is used in daily life of the consumers as they are the one who are majority in contact with the brands be it products or services. There are other branches of intellectual property law like copyright, patent, designs, biodiversity etc. which are not this close to the consumers.
The consumers are exploited on a large scale regularly because of their less knowledge in the field of intellectual property law due to which they do not realize what rights they are entrusted with and how can they exercise it. Law, has always been seen as a tedious subject to deal with either theoretically or practically and this has created a fear in the mind of common people because of which they prefer keeping quiet and getting exploited. They find it difficult to even file a complaint against any wrongful act and especially when it comes to intellectual property rights, the unawareness add to the misery of the consumer. Consumer who are unaware and have less knowledge in this field acts as a soft target for the pirates as they know that these customers will not take any strict action against them and this actually happens because for consumers it is a very tough task to find a lawyer and get all the work done but as they are unaware that there are easier ways to get such complaints filed like the online portals that are easy and very convenient to use by the individuals. The next major step which is problematic for the customers is to go for investigation on intellectual property so that there is proper and strong evidence against the pirates and help fighting against brand piracy. This is problematic on the part of consumers as it requires time, money and energy of a consumer and if after these investments they do not get anything in return then it is very disappointing for them. These problems can be fixed by the online platforms as these help in not only filing complains but also investigation. One such reliable and well received platform is Brands and Fakes which is easy for consumers to use and it also provides with intellectual property rights investigators in India who are not easy to find and are rare in India. Today, online portals holds an important place and acts as an interface between the consumers and intellectual property problems and making everybody aware about this will help us in dealing and standing against brand piracy and eradicate it from our country. Read more @ www. brandsandfakes.com. Intellectual property rights as we all know is not very popular among common people but then there's also a true fact that intellectual property rights are booming and in near future will become so important that it will effect us on a very large scale which may be on daily basis. In fact, if we take a close look then we will realize that we are already surrounded by intellectual property rights in our daily life.
when we buy any branded product be it from a show room or a general store, when a trademark is associated with the brand, it automatically becomes a branded product. Same goes with the premium branded services provided. So, it does not matter if its a product or service when it comes to infringement of rights. The most common form of infringement is suffered by people on a daily basis when they get a fake product when they buy a branded product which can be a simple household product like washing powder or any edible item like chips, packaged rice, pulses etc. as the customer go to the shop for a particular brand but when they come back and see then they realize that the product they have been given is a fake one which causes huge disappointment as they are never a superior quality because its fake which means fake in every sense. The consumers are thus always advised to be alert and attentive while buying products and also they should know their brands and trade marks perfectly well so that they can catch hold of any infringement which has happened or is about to happen. Even if they fall prey to such acts, they can always find a redressal for it which is they can file complaints as these can be easily done with the help of online portals where one can file a complaint in a hassle free manner and these are also user friendly to provide utmost help to the consumers. These online platforms provides authentic services in regards to such intellectual property issues which does not limit to filing of complaints but also extends to other aspects related to it like investigations on such piracy as detectives for fake products are available here which ultimately provides strong evidence against pirates. Online portals have not only given the consumers the ease to access but also it provides them with the assurance that such matter are no more a burden on the customers. One such reliable and trust worthy online platform is Brands and Fakes which is working hard against such piracy cases and provides with detectives for counterfeits in India which are rare and not very popular in our country. This comes down to one concrete fact that together we can aptly fight against the fake products and brand piracy and helping each other will help us in future where we will able to live free from all kinds of brand piracy and counterfeits.So, consumers are not solely responsible for curbing piracy but its also the task of the brand owners to create awareness for brand piracy with the help of these online platforms. World today has turned so competitive with which comes loads and loads of drawbacks and loopholes. Competition is good in many ways as it gives the consumers lot of options of products and services to choose from but does that mean that every kind of competition is good? It's not so. Only healthy and fair competition is appreciated and is generally considered to be ethical. Competition is seen in every field and is present in our daily lives because of which we have so many brands to choose from.
Intellectual property has taken such a shape today that competition in this field has affected not only the consumers but also the brand owners and the root or lets say the common cause of suffering is piracy which is increasing because of competition as everybody wants more for less where they are trapped in brand piracy. The first and foremost precautionary step to be taken is to beware of fake brands which can be done when one knows his preferred brand well so that he can make difference between real and fake brand. The second step which can be taken is to be alert while shopping as this will not only prevent him from buying fake product but also this is a straight signal to the seller that the consumer is not careless and can not be fooled by passing fake brands in the name of real. These are precautionary measures but the difficult situation arises when the fake brand product is in the hand of the consumer. The consumer at this time is both upset and confused that which way to go. The burden of proving this offence is on the aggrieved consumer for which he can approach different anti counterfeiting investigators who help in supporting the consumers in this process of investigation for collecting evidence for the same. Investigation is not an easy task and requires expertise and thus it is necessary that reliable help should be taken like on-line platforms where things are so sorted out that it becomes a cake walk for the consumer from the point of filing a complaint to the investigation process and one such reliable on-line portal is Brands and Fakes. Such intellectual property detective services are also taken care of here which secures the consumer in every possible manner. Thus the consumer should feel free and confident in their approach toward these cases of piracy as they are fully protected and are well equipped with every tool to fight against brand piracy as consumer is an important party to piracy but not the only one. Hence, it is the duty of the brand owners as well to file such complaints against brand piracy if they encounter such cases. It always is the effort in small bits which can finally be joined and can bring a big change against the brand pirates and completely stop such unethical acts. So instead of deciding that whose duty is it, we all should take the responsibilities and help in making of a piracy free society. The market today is having number of different products which ranges from products of daily needs to luxury items, necessity to comfort goods etc. but everywhere we see a thing for brands be it any type of goods or services which raises certain questions in our mind like why consumers look for brands? What is that thing that connects the brand owners and the consumers? Why they hesitate to go for non branded products?
The answers to all these questions are not very different, actually it’s all connected to each other and the crux is that all consumers prefer brands because of the “trust” factor which cannot be ignored. Yes, the consumers look for brands and connect to brands through trust and they do not want to go for other non branded products because they cannot trust them but the problem arises when they get fake products in the name of brands as it shakes their trust in the brand which they had. Imagine that you buy any branded product and you pay accordingly and in return you get the fake branded product? This feeling disconnects the consumers from the brand. It’s not only disheartening for the consumers but also for the brand owners as they have their reputation on stake and also have financial stakes. So, consumers are not the only stakeholders in this piracy but also the brand owners. The only profit gainers are the people who are involved in such piracy directly or indirectly. Both the consumers and the brand owners have to jointly take control of such situations if they want any improvements in brand piracy cases. The major problem is the ignorance. Number of times it happens that we ignore the piracy. When we buy a product and just because of laziness we don’t fight for our right then it’s not being lazy it’s being ignorant and supporting lack of knowledge. The very first step which should be taken by the victim of brand piracy is to file complaint on fake brands and should not think that it’s difficult as there are many supportive online portals which not only file complaints but also investigates in these matters. Investigation brings an important turn in these cases as it provides strong evidence to these cases which is required to prove the complaint and also helps in bringing sure justice to both the stake holders. These investigators’ brand protection services can be sourced from online platforms which work in the area of brand protection like Brands and Fakes is one of the site among these websites as it provides reliable and effective remedies for such fake brand products in the market. So, both the consumers and brand owners should without much worry approach these online platforms which are easy and hassle free in access and give faster results as they take all the tension from filing of complaint to investigations to be done and thus providing a society free from brand piracy for both of the stakeholders that is consumers and brand owners. Risks of using duplicate products are innumerable. It can at times become life threatening like use of duplicate medicines or packaged food products. It is not at all surprising to know that there is a whole racket of all these pirated products which may ultimately affect the health and happiness of consumers very badly. This shows that consumers are not secured from all sides. These gaps between the real branded products and brand piracy can be filled only by proper efforts made by the consumers as they are the main focus point around whom all these revolve. For taking proper step the consumers should know the implications and damages caused by duplicate brands which can range from casual damages to grave injuries like: Ø Financial loss when buying the fake brand as real, Ø Dissatisfaction caused due to unavailability of what was expected, Ø Food poisoning caused due to intake of duplicate packaged foods, Ø Skin diseases caused due to use of fake cosmetics, Ø Disappointment due to lack of quality assured, Ø Fatal results by the use of fake medicines and death in severe cases, etc. These are just a few examples to show the severity of the damages which is caused by the duplicate products but there are more which can happen on usage of duplicate brands. The only precaution which can be taken by the consumers is to stay careful and alert. Apart from this there are steps which can be taken further when they are already exploited. This starts with simple complaint which should essentially be made by the consumers when they have any such encounters and they should not worry about where to complain as this is not tedious anymore. There are innumerable online portals which help in such cases but it’s also necessary to find a reliable and well received portal and one such platform is Brands and Fakes which can help consumers to start from scratch and deal with all complaints registration and investigations for intellectual property rights which is the most difficult part as it is the main part in order to establish strong evidences against the exploiters. This shows that these steps can not only be easily accessed but also are effective enough to reduce such piracy. So, one should stop cribbing and start taking actions in order to get rid of brand piracy and duplicate brands. What is the general reaction when people buy gold, silver or any expensive jewel? It is a very a common reaction which most of us have come across where we see that they are so excited and at the same time very cautious and also scared as they think a number of times before the final buy of such expensive jewels because its costs heavy and is an investment more than a buy. Further, consumers prefer branded jewels today as they feel they will not be cheated but what when they are cheated in the name of brands? They feel shattered. It’s not only in the case of gold or jewels as this was a big and expensive example but the feeling remain the same even if they are cheated in small items on day to day basis and let me remind it may not be expensive but leaves a heavy impact on the customers and sometime these inexpensive items may risk life in many ways. Trademark is a mark which can be graphically represented and differentiates goods of one producer from another producer and is directly related to the reputation of a brand owner or trademark owner. Today, when one goes to any general store where we can find all sorts of products and innumerable brands, there we become careless because of reasons like:
· The infrastructure of the shop; · Or we tend to get distracted by seeing so many different types of items and commodities These are few reasons which make us careless and give the retailers a chance to use that opportunity. You must be wondering why? This can be explained from a simple example that generally we buy our monthly needful in bulk in the starting of the month, where in every time it’s not possible that we go to some kind of mega mart and shop by ourselves but sometimes it might happen that we shop from small retail shops, here, because of the above mentioned two reasons the retailers can easily cheat on us by putting fake products instead of real ones in our shopping bags. When we reach our home then we see that there is something different or sometimes those fake products even go unnoticed. This forms the base of the piracy which further results in trademark infringement. Trademark gets infringed when somebody tries to sell his product in the name of some established brand by deceiving the consumers and giving them the impression that their product is the branded product itself by creating similar trademark or names and also selling similar products as of the trademark. Cheating like this can only happen when there is lack of information on fake products among the consumers and here they pave the way for piracy and trademark infringement. A consumer should not only have knowledge about his trademark but also should be very careful while shopping. A consumer should always keep a check on what is being given by the shopkeeper and should try and individually check the packaged products which helps in differentiating between fake and genuine products. It also creates a fear in the mind of shopkeeper as he will not try to cheat the customers by seeing them so alert and cautious. These are the precautionary measures but the problem arises when these things have already happened and the consumers are not able to find any remedy to such problems. These problems can be solved by registering complaints about any trademark infringement incident that happens or any complaints regarding fake products on online portals or platforms that provide all solutions relating to these problems faced by the consumers and also the brand owners. Consumers and brand owners can go for trademark infringement investigation which will further corroborate as strong evidence and thus help in fighting against piracy and one of such strong and reliable platform is Brands and Fakes. Piracy is deep rooted and will take time to go but one can take these small steps in order to make it a big revolution as it requires equal participation from everyone in order to fight back against brand piracy and trademark infringement. Piracy and fake products go hand in hand as; if there is piracy there will be a fake product involved and if there is a fake product there will be piracy. Isn’t it funny but unfortunately that’s the truth. The second thing which I want to focus upon is the connection of investigation to these two different words that is piracy and fake products. Why is investigation important when it comes to these two? The answer is that investigation provides us with proof and a proof can be in any form, just that much which can help in justifying the fact that there is piracy and that has caused damage to either the consumer or the brand owner or both (whoever is the plaintiff).
The burden of proof lies on the person who files a complaint who is also called plaintiff in legal language. He has to prove that there is misuse of his trademark and damage is caused to his reputation because of that misuse which further should be corroborated with proper evidence. Many a times the plaintiff fails in proving his claims due to lack of proper evidence which again is a result of improper investigation of the same. So even if the plaintiff is correct on his part, he loses everything because of lack of evidence. Is this right? No, not at all!!! I know this is the possible answer that readers will give and this is correct but not in the real world. This unjustified decision can be reverted if proper efforts are taken by the consumers or brand owners who suffer from problems relating to the fake products. Investigations on fake products can be a huge help in these cases as this can collect strong evidences against such violations which in terms can provide justification and correct decision to the needy. It is very easy to recommend this but it is all the more difficult to execute it because even if we know that we should opt for investigation as a method, we still don’t know that where to ask such help from? Will it be easy or will it be tedious just like other court procedures? These questions will run across our mind hundred times before taking any such step, but then this can be made easy. This is the generation of internet, as in, every possible thing is available on internet then why not this? Internet can solve all such problems as there are many online platforms which provide such investigation and thus help both the brand owners and the consumers in such difficult situations. Here, they can easily file complaints and also ask for services relating to the same; all their queries can be answered in a jiffy. One such very popular and reliable piracy investigation service provider is Brands and Fakes which help in all such problems and thus protects the stakeholders from the damage caused due to fake products or can be caused due to the same. It’s really not a tension to go for investigations now because of such easy way outs. Investigations should be encouraged more and more so that one would never hesitate in taking strong steps against brand piracy. Protection of Intellectual Property Rights through IPR Compliance Services as a Strong Method10/31/2014 Intellectual property is that intangible property which is currently ruling the entire world. Intellectual property holds a very important place in everybody’s life but the problem is that generally after hearing this name common people don’t give a positive reaction. They don’t seem to follow the term “intellectual property” but this term is found in everyday life of the people which customers totally ignore. The products they buy daily, like all the packaged products deal with intellectual property law which is trademark and this is one which is closely related to the consumer’s daily life. Further there are other intellectual property laws and forms like copyright which is associated with any new literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work, and then we have patents, trade secrets, biodiversity etc. These all are different forms which touch the life of the consumers or common people in different ways. It may happen that they are not directly associated with the consumers but indirectly they are related to them.
As intellectual property is not properly known and people are not aware of this basic concept as a core, due to which both the consumers and brand owners face huge problems because both of them can’t solve the problem because lack of the knowledge, where on one side the consumers lack the basic knowledge, on the other side, the brand owners don’t get the information about the fake products. So, basically it becomes a losing situation for both the stakeholders. The basic problem why intellectual property law is still lacking in India is because of the fact of lack of awareness about the same and lack of service providers in regard to the IPR problems and thus it fails in addressing such IPR related situations and problems. It is important for every stakeholder to know about brand protection investigators in India so that they can reach to the bottom of the problems relating to IPR. This field can only grow and get rid of problems when there is proper support of all the stakeholders and also various portals or agencies which are trying to help in this field. Investigating before registering the complaint not only clarifies the situation but also provide us with strong evidence in order to carry on our complain procedure. In any kind of IPR related issues both consumers and brand owners who are at stake should take proper help of IPR help portals or platforms which provide all kinds of IPR compliance services like reporting complaints on fake brands and investigating on the same. We are here talking in particular reference to the trademark because that’s the only one intellectual property which is directly associated with the consumers and brand owners and trademark also connects both the consumers and brand owners as the trademark represents the brand and origin of the product in the market. Intellectual property holds a very important place in our day to day life which gets ignored but should be kept on priority as the rise in fake brands is tremendous and to control piracy IPR services are important which are rendered by various online platforms like Brands and Fakes which is a well known online platform which provides solutions to all such IPR problems. So, these IPR compliance services should be given much more importance in order curb piracy and they can result in strong method of checking piracy. Role of Intellectual Property in Protection of Biodiversity in Relation to Brand Protection10/20/2014 All living creatures including man together constitute biodiversity and they are dependent on each other for their existence and survival and this makes biodiversity necessary which therefore means that conservation of biodiversity is equally important. The word ‘biodiversity’ consists of two words ‘bio’ which means life and ‘diversity’ which means variability as it includes various life forms, so, biodiversity means existence of a huge number of various kinds of animals and plants which make a balanced environment.
Biodiversity has been brought to an international level by Convention on Biological diversity, 1992, also known as CBD which showed the concern for the conservation and protection of biodiversity. India enacted the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 in order to provide legislative recognition to the conservation of biodiversity. The main objectives of the biodiversity law are: Conservation of biological diversity: This can be done in two ways that is either conserving habitat in its natural habitat or conserving it in place other than the natural habitat. Sustainable use of the components of biological diversity: This means using and saving adequate for the future generation. Equitable benefit sharing: This means sharing the benefit which we get out of bio-resources in an equitable manner. Further it’s important to know that why there is a relationship between intellectual property and biodiversity? The relationship exists between them due to ‘bio-piracy’ which mean stealing or robbing the bio-resources or knowledge related to bio-resources. The knowledge which vests in bio-resources is not new and is being carried on from generation to generation and this knowledge is termed as ‘traditional- knowledge’ which is at stake because it is consistently being misused by people and organizations and traditional knowledge comes under intellectual property. Thus, they are directly related to each other. So, where there will be chances to harm the biodiversity in any manner there will be involvement of intellectual property law. Now, we come to the basic issue which is the role of intellectual property law in protection of biodiversity for which it is necessary that we know the relationship between two laws. Starting with patents, the bio-resources and traditional knowledge by themselves can’t be protected under patent law but patent may be granted on inventions based on traditional knowledge and/or bio-resources. Bio-resources can be further protected under trade secret, geographical indications and under the plant varieties protection law. So, it may be noted that intellectual property laws are either directly or indirectly related to biodiversity law, the above mentioned laws that is the Patents Act, 1970; the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 and the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001 are directly related to traditional knowledge, biodiversity and bio-piracy, where mainly dominated by patents. The Copyright Act, 1957 is indirectly related with the traditional knowledge, biodiversity and bio-piracy as if the traditional knowledge is in a written form it may be copyrightable under the head of the literary work. Trade mark may be used as a marketing tool for products involving traditional knowledge and biological material. It also provides us with the information on fake products and identifies them which help in stopping the piracy. So, it appears that intellectual property laws are intensely related to the biodiversity and helps in protecting the biodiversity. Further, the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 makes express provisions regarding intellectual property under section 6 of the Act which empowers the National Biodiversity Authority to grant approval for obtaining an intellectual property right relating to a biological resource. Hence, it is balance between the two laws and both works together for the protection of biodiversity. As India is growing in every aspect which also opens up the vulnerability of Indian bio-resources because it is one country which is blessed with bio-resources in abundance and globalization seems to be a threat for all these. Thus, the involvement of intellectual property laws becomes necessary either directly or indirectly and they play a great role in protecting biodiversity that arises from the relationship between both laws. The companies or enterprises dealing with the bio-resources equally need to protect themselves from the bio-piracy and other threats both nationally and internationally for which they can take help of the brand protection services in India which provides platforms to fight against all these and one such well known platform is Brands and Fakes. “Food” what does this word speaks? The word is enough to describe the one of the most valuable part of our life or should I say it’s the basis of our life. If there is no food there is no possibility of life and food and hunger makes a person do many things. It’s a simple answer to the question that why we work that is to earn money and why we earn money because we need to survive and food is an important element of survival but when we see the current scenario there are thousands of food brands which are available in the market and they guarantee the best quality in whatever they sell like biscuits, ice- cream, rice, lenticels, sugar, salt and the list goes on. We also look for brands in these food products because they assure quality which is hard to find in the loose food items sold by the vendors or general retail stores but do you think that the pirates are not smart enough then let me clear it that they are way smarter than the poor consumers because they know very well how to manipulate consumers and especially their target are the unaware lot of the consumers.
Very many food brand owners and consumers both are very troubled because of the fake food brands available in the market. The consumers are troubled because the quality they look for, is not available and also feel cheated as they expect something else than what they get, they are cheated on both levels of monetary as they pay for something else and they get something else and health levels because the fake products uses low and degraded quality of products which directly and adversely affects the health of the consumer. The brand owners are not directly affected by the brand piracy but are indirectly adversely affected as they have their name at the stake. Their brand name is misused and they lose their reputation which leads to loss of customers and further loss of business and money. So we can clearly see that there is a two way loss and these losses can’t be compensated. The question which comes to our mind after reading this is that then how can we not become a victim of this brand piracy and how can we fight counterfeiting in India? The answer is quite simple which is we need to take precautions rather than looking for the cure. Both consumers and brand owners need to be aware about the market. While the consumers should keep a full check on the trademarks they use and should check the trademark, the packaging, the maximum retail price, the manufacturing date, the bar code for the product etc. thoroughly before buying where as the brand owners should keep on promoting awareness about their trademark and product in order to keep the consumers well informed about their brand and food product so that the consumers can easily distinguish between the fake and genuine products which can help in maintenance of quality standards and help both the brand owners and customers to fight against the losses which could occur in future. Apart from these steps to be followed as a precautionary measure they can also complain for the same if they encounter any such mishap of fake food packaged products they can report the same on the online portals which help in providing a platform to both the brand owners and customers so that they can fight against these pirates and Brands and Fakes is one of such reliable and well received online platform. Trademark is a mark which differentiates a good from other goods and also it informs the consumers about the source of good. This is how trademark has been generally referred which is true, though, now the scenario is a bit different as trademark has been associated with the brand value which is increasing day by day and with these increase there is increase in the negative points like trademark infringement, passing off of goods which is a caution to the brand owners that they should keep a close check on their trademark so that they are far from all these threats. It is agreed that even years before these dangers were present to one’s trademark but one cannot deny that it has increased abundantly with passing time and today no one can even imagine to what extent it has reached.
However, our trademark law that is the Trade Marks Act, 1999 doesn’t mandate the registration of the trademark and provides a remedy of passing off in case of violation of trademark rights but passing off remedy is more difficult in nature because the burden of proof lies on the plaintiff (the one who files the complaint) and he has to prove the ‘classical trinity’ as referred in the case of Reckitt & Coleman v. Borden (1990) which is as following: • One has to establish that the reputation of plaintiff is hampered by the use of the mark • Establish that misrepresentation made by the defendant to the consumer. • Such misrepresentation has caused or is likely to cause damage to the reputation of the plaintiff’s business. After these three grounds are proved the plaintiff will succeed in the remedy of passing off. Further in the case of Durga Dutt Sharma v. Navratna Pharmaceutical Lab (1965), certain points of differences have been highlighted between infringement and passing off: • In an action for infringement the right of the plaintiff is established by the evidence of registration. Therefore, registration itself acts as a proof, whereas, in an action for passing off the right of the plaintiff is based on the reputation of the plaintiff’s business. • Trademark infringement is a statutory right whereas passing off is a common law right. • Trademark registration is an exclusive right and property to be protected in the exclusive right is to use a particular mark whereas in passing off property which has to be protected is the reputation of plaintiff. In passing off the defendant might escape the liability if he can show added material on the packaging etc. which distinguishes his goods from the goods of the plaintiff where even the trademark owner has the information of fake products suffers loss and is unable to protect hi brand but that is not in the case of infringement and thus infringement is very strict as a remedy. Thus, it is very necessary to get one’s trademark registered so that they can protect their brands adequately and brand owners can also contact the brand protection services in India which will help them in providing a platform to fight for their rights and Brand and Fakes is one such well known platform. Currently we see the markets flooded with various kinds of apparels, foot wears, accessories etc. and thus new brands keeps on pouring in with passing time. Also with time the brand users know the brands they use and love. But the increasing popularity of the brands give rise to piracy as well and in the current scenario, you might find pirated products more than the real branded products, it’s shocking but it’s true which further gives rise to the insecurities to the brand owners because they do face a lot of loss in terms of finance and reputation due to piracy. Here protection of brands becomes an important issue which can be only dealt when there is information of piracy to the general public and brand owners. If we see closely it’s a two way loss, both to the brands and the general public.
Now a day’s all kinds of brands relating to different products all over the world is available in India and people are happy to use them and one such sector which is immensely flourishing is the footwear industry. Today, almost all the branded shoes are available in our country be it some designer shoes or some top notch classic shoe brands like Crocs, Red Tape etc. are easily accessible through rising market and technology. This also gives rise to the fake shoe products which are available in the local markets of India, and which though look similar but don’t match the quality of the original product at all. The material used in it is of low quality which can harm the consumer in many ways like some skin problems like corns in the feet which is very painful and not easily curable and one of the main reason of this disease is wearing bad or low quality shoes or sandals, further other reasons like discomfort while walking, shoe bites and also these products don’t last long which is why it is always recommended by experts even the doctors to wear shoes of good quality and as we know good quality comes with good brands. India, as we know majorly comprises of the middle class people and they are the only targeted lot by the pirates and this is because of two major reasons: Ø First, that they are not well aware of the brands they use and Ø Secondly, they have limited money to spend. These two reasons are used in order to lure them to buy the cheap fake products. Also if the consumers find out that they have landed up with the fake products even then they don’t bother to complain which is not expected of them as this whole era is about one’s rights and protection of the same so if some of the rights are violated one should come up with it. It’s not totally the responsibility of the consumers in the matter of fake products but the brands are also equally responsible for creating the awareness and circulating the information on fake products. They can come up with various ways of doing so: Ø The very first and easy step which can be taken is to create awareness about their own brand in detail which can comprise of all the small details relating to the brand logo, authorized dealership, authorized retailers, authorized online retailers, different authorized stores all over the world, etc. this will automatically help the consumers to detect the fake products. Ø Above, is the precaution that can be taken by the brand owners but what if they have to report piracy against their brands in India? This can be answered and simplified by the different online platforms provided for the registering of such complaints on fake products which can be registered by the brand owners or the consumers. One such very popular platform is Brands and Fakes which provides all kinds of support regarding these cases. But the major problem arises when the brand owners are unable to find proper platform which provides with brand protection services in India but one of the reliable and one stop answer for their problems is Brands and Fakes which is an online platform which offers brands owners the protection they require at all levels. So, it’s evident that the information and awareness on the fake pirated products is necessary in order to protect the brand value and reputation be it any industry or sector. The rise of cosmetic brand piracy: Say no to hoax cosmetics with complaints on such fake brands9/21/2014 Today, almost all industry sectors are hit by counterfeiting and piracy globally and India is in no isolation, rather we find these problems taking a rapid rise here. Brand owners put a lot of effort both financially and physically in order to bring up their products in mainstream markets and the worst part is then when they don’t get what they deserve in terms of profits or in terms of brand following. One of the major reasons for this is the fake brands in the market which leaves these brands unprotected and for their protection it must be corroborated with proper evidence which can be acquired once these matters are investigated which is again considered to be a tedious process. Counterfeiting or piracy rob the innovators or producers of their intellectual property rights and is significantly harmful not only to the innovators but also to the consumers. Across seven industry sectors reviewed in the FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry) report, 2012, the unauthorized goods sales caused average sales losses to rights holders of 21.7%.
One such sector which is highly affected through fake brands is cosmetics. Cosmetics are such products which can’t be avoided in our daily routine and it also has a direct contact with our skin so it deeply affects our personality if something goes wrong by using them. Present world is so much concerned with one’s looks and personality be it a female or a male, thus different brands are coming up with the men range so on and so forth and thus slowly cosmetics have not only become a woman’s best friend but also a man’s partner in this tough environment but we keep on hearing complaints on fake brands by the consumers of these cosmetics. When we go to the markets we hear loads of things like “madam please take this, it’s real or “we purchase in bulk due to which our price is lower than the market price” these lines are just the tactics to make you purchase the fake brands which contains many harmful ingredients or compounds including synthetically produced elements, ingredients and compounds which can leave a very bad impact on the skin. India, in the last quarter of 2004 was tallied the highest number of counterfeit perfumes and cosmetics worldwide, according to Gieschen Consultancy’s counterfeit-intelligence analysts and I am not sure for the present but the complaints haven’t reduced which gives an impression that it’s still on rise. To have a complaint it’s essential to spot a fake cosmetic brand and which can be done by Ø Knowing your brands in a very good manner which means that know the label of your brands properly. Sometimes it’s just little changes here and there and then the fake brand is ready for sale!!! So always check the label thoroughly. Ø Buying the products from authorized dealer or retailers and always look for a barcode on the products but beware fake brands come up with fake barcodes, so in order to combat that there are many free barcode scanner apps in the smart phones that can be used and if u don’t have that option then it will be safe to buy it from authorized dealers or retailers. Ø Also the packaging play a very important role as the real brands have a higher quality packaging and if you feel any kind of low quality packaging you can either not buy it or you can file complaints for the same. Complaints are encouraged because, we as consumers have certain rights which we should administer and also using duplicates always encourages such fake brands manufacturers to go ahead and if there will be no buyer for their fake products it will automatically result in decrease of such fake brands which is a logical way to handle it. Also these complaints will help to take certain steps forward and find a legal solution for it. Where we can always be a bit careful while purchasing our branded cosmetics, sometimes it may happen that we might be trapped in these fake brands, there the question arises that “ who will help us?”. Proofs in these cases are necessary in order to put an end on such complaints and we can get it through investigation but not everyone is capable enough for these investigations, that too in India but Brands and Fakes is such a brand protection platform service which can easily help you in these situations. Also investigation helps to trace down that whether these cosmetics are domestically produced or being smuggled. Even one can register their complaints on Brands and Fakes website from where it can be taken further. It’s not at all necessary that only consumers can be affected due to these fake brands, even other sections like the brand owners who are at higher risk than the consumers as they have their reputation attached to their brand names which will ruin up if consumers frequently have complaints then they can seek help from a brand protection investigator service in India and Brands and Fakes is one of the most popular such service provider. Through sharing equal responsibilities by both consumers and brand owners or dealers against these fake products or cosmetics, both can avail benefits and when there is easy availability of brand protection services in India through one of the most efficient service provider “Brands and Fakes” then there’s no point wasting time and money on fake products. |