WHAT IS COUNTERFEIT?

According to the Anti Counterfeiting Group, counterfeiting is defined as:

"The deliberate attempt to deceive consumers by copying and marketing goods bearing well known trademarks, generally together with packaging and product configuration, so that they look like they are made by a reputable manufacturer when they are, in fact, inferior copies (pg. 1)."

In attempting to offer a suitable definition of counterfeiting, therefore, there is the immediate difficulty of delineating similar types of activities that are commonly grouped together under one heading. Any investigation of product or copyright infringement reveals several categories of activity. Instances of infringement cover a variety of interrelated phenomena: piracy, counterfeiting, look-alikes, sound-alikes, 'knock-off’ brands and a large 'grey market’ (McDonald and Roberts, 1994). Phau et al. (2001) define five main types of activity:

Piracy: 

or non deceptive counterfeiting is when the counterfeit product’s intention is not to deceive the consumer, but on the contrary the consumer is aware that the product he or she is buying is pirated. In this case the consumer is the collaborator of the counterfeiters (Grossman and Shapiro, 1988; Bloch et al., 1993; McDonald and Roberts, 1994; Cordell et al., 1996).

Imitations:

Unlike counterfeits, which are direct copies, imitations or copycats are similar in substance, name, shape and colour to look like the originals (Wilke and Zaichkowsky, 1999). While a brand imitation is designed so as to 'look like’ and make consumers 'think of’ the original brand, a counterfeit product is designed to 'be like’ the original (Astous and Gargouri, 2001).

Grey Market:

This describes the unauthorised sale of garment production overruns by legitimately contracted manufacturers (Mcdonald and Roberts, 1994). This practice has recently received considerable press attention as designers attempt to protect their brand integrity by controlling retail outlets. This is a supply side issue rather then one of consumer activity.

Custom-made copies: 

These are replicas of trademark designs of branded products made by legitimate craftsmen. Raw materials are usually of good quality. The only item missing from the original is the emblem or brand name (Phau et al., 2001).

It is non-deceptive counterfeiting that is the focus of this study, perhaps more accurately called piracy, i.e. accurate and deliberate copying of branded goods, but not sold with the intention of attempting to deceive the customer. The deception involved is on the side of the consumer who chooses to buy these goods.

(source: http://www.acrwebsite.org/search/view-conference-proceedings.aspx?Id=11444)