In 1988 I was the Secretary General of the Geneva-based International Committee Against Counterfeiting (COLC) headed by the former President of the Swiss Confederation to fight on an international level against all attacks on intellectual property rights, namely counterfeiting and unfair competition as well as influence international, intergovernmental or supranational organizations as well as government leaders on the need for increased protection and law enforcement. We did call on many governments in Europe and around the world.

Authoritarian regimes are nations where political pluralism is nonexistent or severely limited. These nations are often absolute monarchies or dictatorships may have some conventional institutions of democracy but with meagre significance, infringements and abuses of civil liberties are commonplace, elections (if they take place) are not fair or free (including sham elections), the media is often state-owned or controlled by groups associated with the ruling regime, the judiciary is not independent, and censorship and suppression of governmental criticism are commonplace.

1. Adama (one of the world’s leading crop protection companies providing solutions to control weeds, insects and disease and improve yields). 
2. Adidas Group (global leader in the sporting-goods industry offering a broad portfolio of footwear,apparel and hardware for sport and lifestyle under the brands adidas, Reebok, Taylor Made and CCMHockey).
3. ​Storck (One of the world’s leading confectionary producers with well-known brands such as merci, Werther’s Original and Toffifee).

1. Perfumery and Cosmetics
2. Articles of leather, handbags
3. Clothing, knitted or crocheted
4. Clothing accessories, not knitted or crocheted
5. Knitted or crocheted fabrics
6. Footwear
7. Watches
8. Toys and Games
9. Jewellery
10. Made up textile articles
11. Arms and Ammunitions
12. Pharmaceutical products
13. Electrical Machinery and Electronics
14. Optical, Photographic and Medical Apparatus
15. Plastic and Plastic Articles
16. Musical instruments
17. Machinery and Mechanical Appliances

In 2019, packaging materials were the third most frequently encountered counterfeit articles seized at the EU’s external border, continuing the trend from 2018 . In 2020, it was the top category . In 2020, packaging materials were also among the five most frequently encountered categories of counterfeit articles seized in the internal market, together with the category of labels, tags and stickers. The most commonly infringed IP violation in relation to packaging materials detained in 2020 were ‘trade marks’ (53 %) and ‘designs’ (46 %).

Piracy is the sale of goods that infringe copyright or design rights. It concerns both physical and digital goods. Piracy entails illegally copying and selling physical goods such as copies of copyright content in the form of CDs and DVDs; replica design objects; Technological Protection Measures (TPM) circumvention devices; TV decoder smartcards; fully loaded set-top boxes or sticks; digital content, such as copied software, activation keys for software, video games or databases; hacked accounts for streaming services; Computer-Aided Design (CAD) files; and e-books .

Pharmaceutical goods infringing IP rights are a substantial threat to the EU and affect most, if not all, Member States. The trade in counterfeit pharmaceutical products in the EU has been increasing over recent years. The number of counterfeit medicines and other goods seized by EU customs authorities reached 1 172 076 units in 2019, entering the top 10 list of seized products by number of articles. The trend was confirmed in 2020, with medicines appearing as the seventh most-seized products at the EU’s external border.

Toys infringing IP rights are frequently detected and seized both within and on entry to the EU . At 9.6 % of the articles seized at the EU’s external border, in 2019 toys were the fourth most frequently seized category of counterfeit products. In 2019, EU authorities seized 3 488 282 articles with an estimated value of EUR 15 332 034 . The trend in 2020 was similar, with toys being the sixth most common category of seized products. The majority of counterfeit toys seized in the EU are believed to originate from Argentina, China (including Hong Kong), and Turkey.

In 2019, perfumes and cosmetics were the third most commonly seized IPR-infringing goods at the EU’s external border (in terms of the number of seizure procedures). These counterfeit perfumes and cosmetics were valued at approximately EUR 40 million at the time of the seizure . A decrease in reported seizures of these commodities was observed in 2020, when only approximately EUR 20 million worth of counterfeit perfumes and cosmetics were seized . Nonetheless, packaging materials for perfumes became one of the most-seized fake goods at the EU’s external border in 2020 .

Criminal networks involved in IP crime continue to counterfeit food and drink. In 2020, foodstuffs (in particular cookies, pasta, crisps and sweets) were the second most commonly seized category of products at the EU’s external border. In contrast, they were among the less commonly seized products on the EU’s internal market in 2020. China and Turkey were among the most frequently reported non-EU countries of origin for counterfeit food and drink seized at the EU’s external border in 2019 and 2020.