Government to crack down on counterfeit goods

The government is to step up its crackdown on fake goods in the UK as a new report revealed clothing, tobacco and alcohol are the top products targeted by counterfeiters.

At the International Intellectual Property Enforcement Summit today Business Secretary Vince Cable and Intellectual Property Minister Lord Younger spoke out about the problem and said fakers account for 10 per cent of global trade.

Mr Cable said he had forged new links in China to help battle the issue in the region and Lord Younger said: “The UK is a centre of excellence for intellectual property-rich companies and it is vital that we create the confidence for UK firms to grow overseas. Collaboration and partnership are key to that. The UK and China are working ever more closely to reduce the impact of IP crime.”

The report revealed that 72 million website links were removed in the past year up by 620 per cent on a year ago while the specialist City of London IP crime unit is investigating nearly £30m worth of IP crime in its first nine months.

A number of large brands have taken matters in to their own hands and taken fakers to court including Burberry which won a £63m settlement in 2012 against fraudsters.