U.K. Electronics Alliance Issues Toolkit to Address Supply Chain Counterfeiting, Piracy
February 19, 2009 // Published as a news service by IHS
The U.K. Electronics Alliance (UKEA) developed a best practices supply chain toolkit, which is designed to give businesses advice on how to protect themselves from fake goods entering business supply chains.
The toolkit was produced by the UKEA Intellectual Property (IP) Office Crime Group and includes a step-by-step approach on action that should be taken if counterfeit items are found within the supply chain and guidance on how to strengthen and protect IP assets.
Developments in technology and communications led to increases in IP crime, including counterfeiting and piracy, of around $200 billion per year, according to UKEA.
"With recent research finding that nearly a quarter of all small- and medium-sized enterprises were affected by counterfeiting, this toolkit offers practical advice to businesses to help them better protect themselves from IP crime, especially during these already challenging times," said David Lammy, UKEA minister of state for IP.
IP crime spread from small industries producing poor quality, counterfeit fashion accessories and goods to "massive" manufacturing plants that can produce cheap copies of everything from electrical appliances to medicines, said UKEA. Often these copies can be dangerous.
According to the 2007 Rogers Review of Local Authority Regulatory Priorities, IP crime is worth 1.3 billion pounds (GBP) in the U.K., with 900 million GBP of this going to organized crime.
Many businesses rely on goods received through supply chains, often from different suppliers, and are at risk from counterfeiting and piracy unless effective systems and agreements are put in place to tackle this problem, according to UKEA.
Source: U.K. Electronics Alliance (UKEA).