Those who have contributed to the fight against counterfeiting and illegal trade “above and beyond the call of duty” were recently recognized when they were announced as winners of the eleventh annual Global Anti-Counterfeiting Awards in Paris. The presentation of the GAC Awards – sponsored by the Reconnaissance International-published Authentication News™ and the Global Anti-Counterfeiting Group (GACG) Network – was part of the World Anti-Counterfeiting Day events organised by the Union des Fabricants. The awards were made as a continuing recognition of special achievements by these individuals and organisations.
With counterfeit and pirated goods, according to many experts, costing the global economy up to €6 billion – and resulting in losses in jobs, revenues and investments as well as propping up organized crime – the outstanding performance and “go the extra mile” attitude of the awardees are a shining beacon to the entire band protection world. Among the awardees and their achievements:
Richard Heath – Vice President, Legal and Global Anti-Counterfeiting Counsel at Unilever, President of the International Trademark Association (INTA), and Co-Chair of the International Chamber of Commerce ‘BASCAP’ (Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy) for heading Unilever’s decades-long campaign against trade in fakes, personally making anti-counterfeiting a top priority for INTA, and contributing significantly to many like-minded groups and organisations.
Andema (Asociación Nacional Para la Defensa de la Marca) of Spain for a range of anti-counterfeiting activities – including legislation lobbying, inter-institutional co-operation, training seminars for customs, police and officials, and public and consumer awareness projects – that culminated in a very successful program in 2007.
ECE Projekt-Management GmbH & Co KG – the holding company for one of Germany’s major shopping mall proprietors – for organizing anti-counterfeiting awareness exhibitions for ver two years in shopping centres all over Germany and confronting 10 million consumers directly with information about product and brand piracy to, hopefully, stop them from buying fakes.
Li Qunying (Director of IP Division, China Customs), Wang Zhiguang (Director of IP Division, Ministry of Public Security, Economic Crimes Investigation Department), Deputy Director Gao Feng(MPS/ECID), and Deputy Director Yuan Ming (SPP/ISD) for working together as a core team to strengthen China's criminal and border protection.
PriceMinister for working with Union des Fabricants and others to improve the protection of intellectual property rights on its website - co-producing an exhibition about counterfeiting on the Internet at the Museum of Counterfeiting in Paris and contributing to training and awareness programs.
According to GAC Awards officials, the awards are open to nominations from anyone with an interest in brand protection, anti-counterfeiting, and anti-piracy activities, particularly in the international context, ensuring a wide spread of nominations from across the world. The awards were judged by a panel from Reconnaissance International, the GACG Network, and representatives of the award winners in 2008.
If anything can be gleaned from this year’s crop of awardees, according to John Anderson, Chairman of the GACG network of national and regional anti-counterfeiting organisations, it is that wide-ranging cooperation across public/private sector divide – as well as consumer awareness of the true dangers of counterfeiting – are needed to win the war against the international trade in fakes. Additionally, as Ian Lancaster of Reconnaissance International, publisher of Authentication News, said, “…The projects recognised here all demonstrate the need for a strategic protective approach, which integrates legal mechanisms, authentication solutions, investigation and enforcement”.