FAKE AND PHONY

Define Counterfeit:
To counterfeit means to imitate something. Counterfeit products are fake replicas of the real product.
Define Proprietary:
Proprietary refers to ownership or characteristics relating to ownership. It describes all the rights that the owner of property can exercise. Proprietary articles are items that are manufactured and marketed under an exclusive right.

Define Generic: a. A product that has no brand name or registered trademark

1. Define Counterfeit drugs: a counterfeit drug is a medication or pharmaceutical product which is produced and sold with the intent to deceptively represent its origin, authenticity or effectiveness. A counterfeit drug may contain inappropriate quantities of active ingredients, or none, may be improperly processed within the body (e.g., absorption by the body), may contain ingredients that are not on the label (which may or may not be harmful), or may be supplied with inaccurate or fake packaging and labeling. Medicines which are deliberately mislabeled to deceive consumers—including mislabeled but otherwise genuine generic drugs—are counterfeit.
Examples:
b. Luxury brand bags like Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Prada etc. – sold at a very minimal price c. Logo is on the product d. Counterfeit Drugs – antibiotics sold at a cheaper price and without prescription

2. Have you ever purchased or were given an item that you were told was a brand name or designer name to find out later it was not?
NO, in our country there are a lot of counterfeit products selling them at a much cheaper price. e. How did you react? I would look at the product. One can tell if the product is fake or real. There is a big difference. f. How did you feel? I would probably know at first it was fake because its selling at a much cheaper price. g. What did you do with the item. Don’t buy fake items

3. Provide list of counterfeit products most commonly found: h. Luxury brand names, high end clothing, gadgets and devices – you can find them in Asia, mostly China

4. Have you ever purchased a counterfeit goods knowing they were fakes? i. I did bought one but after a month of using the zipper was broken. It was cheaply made and so is the price.

5. Is buying Counterfeit illegal in Canada? j. If it’s not for distribution, it is not illegal.

6. What are the consequences of buying counterfeit products?
When you purchase a counterfeit product you may be:
When you purchase a counterfeit product you may be: placing yourself or your family in danger. Counterfeiters spend nothing on quality control. They do not care what happens to consumers who buy and use sub-standard counterfeit products. Examples: k. Counterfeit electrical devices have caught fire causing injury and serious damage to property. l. Counterfeit pharmaceutical products often contain no active ingredients or, worse still, toxic ingredients and have caused death. m. Counterfeit children’s clothing containing no fire retardant. funding organized crime or terrorist groups. hurting the legitimate economy resulting in the loss of jobs/tax revenue.

7. How can you protect yourself from buying counterfeit?
Buying licensed products from reputable retailers will reduce the possibility of a consumer’s exposure to counterfeit/pirated goods.
Some indicators that goods may be counterfeit/pirated include:
Price is much lower than average.
Packaging has a shoddy appearance or spelling mistakes.
Products normally sold in packages are being sold individually.
Products (particularly electrical) are of poor quality and/or lacking name brand or certification.

SUMMARY: In 2011 and 2012, the largest Canadian intellectual property investigation took place. The project is called Project O-Scorpion. RCMP and Canada Border Services Agency personnel worked together to identify the suspect goods as they arrived in Canada. In the first phase of the project, RCMP made 49 seizures totaling an estimated retail value of $43.5 million. In the second phase of the project, 14 search warrants were executed, 67 charges were laid against 22 people and counterfeit products with a retail value of $35 million were seized.
There has been increasing amount of counterfeit products that pose a risk to health and safety of people and some of the users do not know them. These includes fake medications that may have wrong and harmful ingredients, fake electrical products, untested beauty products and perfumes that may cause allergic reactions, to name a few.
RCMPs concern is the increasing amount of counterfeit products appearing in Canada that is a risk to the safety and health of Canadians who use them.