Goods with Fake Faces: Why Owners of Trademarks Contribute to Counterfeiting

Ch. 4. P. 91–113.

Kotelnikova Z.

Counterfeiting has always been a problem. Counterfeiting is a term used to describe a range of illicit activities linked with trademark infringement. The paper we present focuses on victims to counterfeiting – owners of registered trademarks. The paradox is that they partly contribute to the market expansion of counterfeited goods. This happens because the modern production is subject to sign-consumption. In the Russian economy owners of registered trademarks are said not to be very active in combating with counterfeiting. All companies we interviewed may be divided into four groups: aggressive fighters, lazy fighters, and selfish-non-fighters and discouraged non-fighters. The key feature of all companies’ behavior is that they make great efforts to hide the information about fakes from all external observers. They are too scared of any negative information that can harm their brands and break the market status quo.

Keywords: контрафактная продукция, рынок, потребление, правообладатели торговых марок

In book

Economy in Changing Society. Consumption, Markets, Organizations and Social Policies

Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2011.