Brand Investigators: Trademark and Product Piracy

Otto again, that football fanatic! The season has not even started yet and he is already wearing the new Fortuna shirt (Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna 1895 e. V.). How does he always manage to get his hands on it so early? Perhaps he has a direct line to the club’s board or one of the sponsors. These shirts are expensive, even if Fortuna are unfortunately only in the second division. No, that is unlikely. In most cases, these early-available shirts are cheap counterfeit goods, often low-quality productions from elsewhere in Europe.

Kurtz Investigations Düsseldorf works closely with experts in product and trademark law. We deploy our brand investigators to identify counterfeit and imitation products, to uncover the distribution channels of these illegal items, and to secure your rightful claims for damages and injunctive relief: +49 211 9874 0021.

Two thirds of all German manufacturers affected

Despite your best efforts, the technical control mechanisms and the activities of customs authorities, thousands of sometimes deceptively authentic counterfeit products flood the European markets every year. Everyone knows them: Bundesliga shirts on Turkish market stalls at knock-down prices, Breitling watches, Rolex, Omega and many others sold for a few euros at weekly markets. But this is only the tip of the iceberg.

According to the EU, product piracy, illegal overproduction, parallel and re-imports now account for 10 per cent of global trade, representing international losses of more than 300 billion euros and approximately 35 billion euros in the innovation-driven Federal Republic alone. In Germany, according to the VDMA, around two thirds of manufacturers of capital goods are affected by illegal copies. The impact on the labour market is equally severe: according to estimates by the Ministry of Justice, around 50,000 jobs are lost in Germany every year due to product piracy. Across Europe, as many as 300,000 jobs may be affected.

All manufacturing sectors affected

In every area of copyright and patent law, products are copied shamelessly. Even at official German trade fairs such as Messe Düsseldorf, these pirated and counterfeit goods are brazenly displayed for sale. Let Kurtz Detective Agency Düsseldorf support you in combating the theft of your intellectual property. If you suspect that illegal copies or imitations of your products are being offered, contact our brand investigators. For a no-obligation consultation, please use our contact form or call us on +49 211 9874 0021.