Counterfeiting and piracy increase these disparities “by undermining work, creativity, competitiveness and efforts to innovate, exploiting the inequalities, shortcomings and weaknesses of citizens and the system, with the sole aim of profit and benefitting criminal organisations”.

These problems are highly damaging to the economy, with serious consequences for the competitiveness of companies. However, it is also negative for consumers, since these kinds of products are "likely to jeopardise consumer safety, public health and the environment".

Furthermore, the anti Counterfeiting Group (GAC) was set up to encourage its members to create strategies for combating counterfeiting and piracy.

According to the Activity Report 2021, a total of 2,941,505 counterfeit and pirated products were seized by AT, PSP, GNR and ASAE. "This shows that Portuguese law enforcement agencies are working hard to tackle this problem." When analysing the report, DECO found that "in 2021, there was a significant increase in the number of seizures compared to 2020 (112%)".

"While the above results are clearly positive, they show that there is still work to be done, especially with regard to education and awareness activities on Industrial Property. It is necessary to inform consumers about the risks of counterfeiting and piracy of goods, enlightening young people about the importance of protecting their Intellectual Property rights, as well as alerting companies to the need to defend themselves from it," they added.

Author

Paula Martins is a fully qualified journalist, who finds writing a means of self-expression. She studied Journalism and Communication at University of Coimbra and recently Law in the Algarve. Press card: 8252

Paula Martins