$1.9 Billion Counterfeit & Pirated Goods Monitored in 2006 Significant increase in actual counterfeit and piracy activity measured. Calgary, Canada, Jan. 29 — During 2006, the International Chamber of Commerce’s BASCAP Intelligence Reports monitored 1,647 global incidents of intellectual property theft focusing exclusively on copyright and trademark infringement. A total…

Advances in Biochemistry to Fight Crime Deoxyribonucleic acid is the basis for chromosomes and transmits genetic material from one generation to the next. But, since the mid-1980s, scientists have been finding ways to broaden DNA’s primary use. Police have used this basic genetic material to close the book on investigations…

Scientists Warn over Excessive Claims for DNA Ancestry Testing Over the last 10 years the science of DNA analysis has made huge advances. In fact, today DNA branding is used as a way of not only protecting your copyright but also as a way of enhancing your brand image. However,…

Huge Genetic Value Shown in Australian Wild Rice A recent study has indicated that Australian wild rice varies significantly in its genetic sequencing from the domesticated varieties used relatively nearby in Asia. This is hugely important because modern cultivated rice has undergone millennia of human intervention and selection. Whilst that…

Trying to pass work off as somebody else’s has very probably been with humankind since the dawn of civilisation and perhaps even before that. Almost always perpetrated for obtaining profit through deception, it has become one of the great value-destroying evils of the 20th and 21st centuries. How do you stop it…

It’s often overlooked that counterfeiters and related crooks need to operate within the basic rules of business economics – just as a legitimate business does. The bottom line is as simple for them as for any business. If the item you’re faking costs more to produce than you can sell…

Things such as sporting events, rock concerts, political rallies and so on, should be a time of celebration and mass enjoyment. Unfortunately, they can also occasionally trigger a train of events that can lead to major problems or even disasters. It is not proposed to go through a long and…

The truth of the matter is, nobody really knows just what the value of counterfeit sales is around the globe each year. A number of very provisional figures for 2014, currently being debated, range from $206-$300 billion U.S. globally. These are, of course, amounts of money that are incomprehensible to…

Here is a quick and slightly tongue-in-cheek list of five subtleties you may not have appreciated relating to fake goods. 1.    In certain circumstances, it is perfectly legal to make replicas.  That might be in situations where there is no original copyright/patent (e.g. antiques) or where you have the brand owner’s…

We occasionally encounter the viewpoint that a given product or series of products would be unlikely to catch the attention of counterfeiters. Yet in fact, providing there is potential profit involved, virtually nothing is immune from their ‘efforts’. To give some indication of this, here are the official statistics for…