Dusseldorf When the emails appear in Ulrich Demuth’s mailbox, he knows: this is a really big fish. The emails contain photos of Wika pressure gauges. “Made in Germany” is clearly legible on the devices. Only: Wika does not have its devices labeled with the designation of origin. “It’s like writing ‘genuine brand watch’ on a counterfeit Rolex,” says Demuth, head of the patent department of the Lower Franconian family company.
The company, based in Klingenberg am Main, is the world market leader in the field of pressure and temperature measuring devices. It generates annual sales of more than one billion euros, with production sites not only in Germany but in nine countries worldwide. Customers include the Dax companies BASF and Bayer. Quality management is a priority for the group.
Third parties would also like to benefit from the good business of the manufacturers known for their quality – patent and trademark infringement included. “Product and brand piracy is a lucrative business worth billions,” says Christine Lacroix from the Aktion Plagiarius association, which wants to draw attention to the increasing unscrupulousness of counterfeiters. The association regularly chooses the most daring product counterfeiters of the year. (An overview of the current “award winners” can be found below.)
Because the damage is not only economical, in some cases the counterfeits are even hazardous to health. For example, if there are inaccuracies when measuring the pressure in industrial plants, this can have serious consequences. Ulrich Demuth therefore clicks through all the photos in the mail attachments that one of Wika’s official trading partners has sent him and which also show the inside of the measuring devices. In this specific case, the 55-year-old patent engineer discovers that the built-in range springs in the counterfeit devices can never function accurately. And that means: alarm.
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High alert
“Dangerous Fake” is the name of a recent report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). It shows that criminal counterfeiters are increasingly selling goods that may pose health, safety and environmental risks. Clothing, cosmetics, toys, spare parts for cars and medicines as well as medical and Covid-relevant products such as corona tests and protective equipment are most frequently affected.
The EUIPO and OECD put the turnover generated by international trade in counterfeit products at 412 billion euros in 2019 alone. This corresponds to 2.5 percent of world trade. Imports of counterfeit products into the European Union (EU) amounted to 119 billion euros in 2019. This is according to the Global Trade in Fakes report. Pure domestic transactions are not recorded.
>> Read here: Statements without cutbacks: millions of fraud with corona tests
“The pandemic has further fueled the problem,” says Christine Lacroix. According to Europol, counterfeit products are increasingly being sold via e-commerce platforms, social media and messenger services. According to this, the perpetrator structure ranges from “uninspired competitors” through professionally organized counterfeiting gangs to organized crime. And that affects medium-sized companies like Wika as well as a Dax group like Volkswagen.
Make online retailers more responsible
In order to better protect the economy and consumers from dangerous counterfeiting, the Plagiarius campaign calls for the operators of e-commerce platforms to be held more accountable in the future. Commercial traders would have to clearly and verifiably verify their identity with photo ID, tax identification number, bank and contact information and comply with the applicable law in the sales market.
>> Read also: China’s mysterious fashion giant: The cheap retailer Shein is growing rapidly internationally
In addition, the operators would have to ensure technically that infringing offers that have already been deleted cannot be uploaded and offered again under a different name.
The regulation is not that far, and the manufacturers themselves take care of the counterfeits that damage their good reputation and thus the brand that is essential for survival. Because buyers are probably only rarely aware that they are buying a counterfeit. Ulrich Demuth and Wika don’t want to let the counterfeiters get away with it. You just have to get hold of them in international legal transactions.
Read the full list of the most brazen counterfeit products based on the Plagiarius campaign’s assessment and score here:
1st prize: Plagiarism of the Klikk cutlery set
Above the award-winning reusable cutlery set Klikk, below the counterfeit.
What appears simple at first glance is complex when it comes to the detailed design. The design award-winning reusable cutlery set can be intelligently put together and is made of sustainable materials. Presumably precisely because of its simplicity, it became the starting point for a fake. An Australian publisher of women’s magazines used a low-quality plagiarism as part of a loyalty campaign.
Although the look is amazingly similar, the imitation is not particularly durable: the plagiarism was made from unsuitable plastic, which deforms after a short time and makes the cutlery unusable.
2nd prize: Wika pressure gauge for chemical and process engineering processes
On the left the original from Wika and on the right the fake from Bangladesh.
The products of the German family company Wika stand for precision, quality and safety, even at extreme temperatures. The pressure measuring devices are used, for example, in mechanical engineering, in the food and pharmaceutical industries and in chemical and process engineering processes.
Southeast Asia counterfeiting is neither reliable nor robust. The counterfeiters abuse the globally protected trademark “Wika” and additionally deceive the buyer with the inscription “Made in Germany” in a particularly brazen way about the true origin of the product.
3rd prize: Angular contact ball bearings from Schaeffler
On the left the angular contact ball bearing from Schaeffler, on the right the fake from China.
According to Aktion Plagiarius, the manufacturer Giant copies and counterfeits everything: from products, packaging and the brand names of renowned manufacturers such as Schaeffler to dealer certificates, data matrix codes and bank confirmations. Everything except the product quality. Precision and reliability play an enormous role in products that are used in machine tools, among other things.
The counterfeits show significant deviations in dimensional accuracy and manufacturing quality, with sometimes serious consequences.
4. Special award for control cabinet keys
In the middle the original from Knipex, on the outside a selection of imitations.
Over the past three years, Knipex has located more than 9,500 counterfeits of the “Twinkey” on online platforms and had the offers deleted. The fakes of the patent-protected control cabinet key are sold on Amazon or Alibaba, among others.
The extremely low prices of the plagiarisms are reflected in cheap materials and poor workmanship, the magnet often does not work or detaches from the attachment.
Other awards: artist shirt “Alnuso”
On the left the artist’s shirt by Germens, on the right the copy by Gabano.
High-quality fabrics and unusual designs: This is how the manufacturer Germens advertises its shirts. The designs are created by artists. In the Gabano plagiarism, the colors and motifs were copied almost exactly, only the arrangement and tiny details were changed.
Gabano’s German website does not contain an imprint. The address given on Facebook also leads to nothing. A German online retailer included the plagiarism in its offer for a seventh of the original price. He has now signed a cease and desist letter.
The Klikk cutlery set for on the go
On the left the cutlery set for on the go from Klikk, on the right the cheap copy from Shein.
The low-cost supplier Shein offered the optically identical but unstable plagiarism of the reusable cutlery in four colors for sale – for less than a third of the original price. The low-cost provider attracts its customers primarily via Google and social media. Five certificate labels are shown on the packaging of the plagiarism, which are intended to testify to the sustainability, quality and safety of the product. It is questionable whether the test facilities have ever tested the material and cheap product.
Hubcaps from VW
Left the original from Volkswagen, right the imitation from Murama.
“Non-genuine but interchangeable” is engraved on the fake “VW” hubcaps. Alternatively, the manufacturer Murama also offers obviously counterfeit products from other car brands. The price is only a quarter of the original, the hubcaps were sold on Ebay and Amazon, among others – the low price, however, is reflected in cheap materials and a lack of stability.
VW protects its intellectual property worldwide. A German online retailer has already signed a cease-and-desist declaration. The Italian manufacturer meanwhile denied the omission. Despite obvious trademark infringement, court proceedings against Murama are pending in Italy.
Feeding bowl for cats
Above the original by Wagner, below the cheap copy.
The idea, shapes, colors and arrangement of the elements of the feeding bowl were copied almost exactly. However, the price is just a fifth of the original – this is also noticeable in the product quality here. The feeding bowls of the plagiarism are not made of dimensionally stable and heat-resistant ceramic. The plastic shells are not stable in the recess and slide back and forth with an uncontrolled clatter when eating.
Due to the clear violation of the design, the supplier of the German discounter, which had included the feeding bowls in its product range, reached an out-of-court settlement with the original manufacturer.
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