Combating counterfeiting and enforcing your trademark are important in order to keep your trademark attractive and unblemished by possible third party misuse.

According to the European Commission, counterfeiting and piracy represents 7 to 10 % of the international trade. The latest statistics show that the number of counterfeited products seized at Europe’s borders has risen by 1000 % since 1998. All sectors of the economy are affected, since counterfeiters no longer focus on “luxury” products, but also deal within basic consumer goods such as tea, toothpaste, condoms, shoes, brake pads…

Belgium is undoubtedly a key staging point in the trade of counterfeited goods. This can be explained by logistics: the port of Antwerp is the second largest in the EU, and several international airfreight carriers have their headquarters in Belgium.