My business is a victim of IP Crime

IP crime or counterfeiting and piracy has become a huge problem for businesses. It has spread from small poor quality suppliers of copied clothing and fashion accessories to massive engineering plants that produce cheap copies of everything from electrical goods, to car parts, to medicines, to household products.

Unfortunately, many companies and rights owners only realize that their IP has been stolen when the fake goods are seen on the streets, or customers make complaints to them about inferior products which have been copied and sold as their products.

If you have IP rights, it’s essential that you build an early warning system into your business plan such as using software that identifies when your images are uploaded by somebody else. The IP crime group has a handy Supply Chain Toolkit explaining how you can prevent your business suffering from IP crime.

You should always consider making a complaint to the authorities such as the police, Trading Standards or action fraud, even in minor cases of infringement. The information may provide details that were missing or a new angle on an existing investigation into organized crime.

You should note that you can’t make the enforcement agencies take action this is a decision they will make based on the circumstances of the case. In fact, most infringement cases are resolved using civil law.

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