Counterfeiting has long plagued luxury retailers, as billions of dollars have been lost to this unethical practice. According to a recent article in WWD, it is estimated that in France alone, $7.5 billion of potential revenue has been lost to counterfeiting. Exacerbating the problem are cybersquatters, who use creative domain names incorporating luxury brand names to direct online shoppers to their sites to sell fake products.
Recently, Hermes, Burberry, Deckers (Uggs), and Michael Kors have all filed cases against cybersquatters. Hermes indicates that eighty percent of the products sold under their name on the internet are fake. And Burberry just won a case against a ring of Chinese cybersquatters, hoping to collect a sum of $100 million.
But collecting these judgements in full is highly unlikely, as it is very difficult to track down these types of criminals in the first place. As these cases continue to surface, hopefully this will be a call to action to find a way to guard against this illegal activity. In addition to monitoring by luxury brands and retailers, and favorable judicial rulings, it may also be fair to ask search engines and service providers to do their due diligence when hosting or servicing their customers.
http://www.wwd.com/business-news/legal/herms-hails-breakup-of-fake-bag-ring-5966863
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