Counterfeiting in the UK
Public–Private Collaboration Is Key
Brand owners and law enforcement agencies are increasingly relying on intelligence‑led, collaborative approaches to tackle counterfeiting in the UK, as James Nurton reports.
Collaboration between brand owners and law enforcement is key to investigating and fighting counterfeiting in the UK. A panel comprising both private and public sector experts will discuss this in a session titled The Lifecycle of a Criminal Investigation into Counterfeiting in the United Kingdom on Wednesday, May 6, 9:15 am to 10:15 am.
“The traditional way of enforcing IP rights probably does not meet the scale of the challenge of IP infringement,” says Andrew Cooke-Welling, Director of Enforcement and Intelligence at the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO), who will moderate the session.
“If you take down a website or go and seize some counterfeit T-shirts, that’s very much a drop in the ocean. It’s trying to take a needle out of a haystack, so what we need to be doing is building knowledge so that we can start to take out the bales of hay,” he explains.
That knowledge often comes from brand owners themselves in the form of information such as names, locations, and details of online platforms.
Last year, the UKIPO launched an online portal where information on counterfeit threats can be uploaded to the Office’s Intelligence Hub.
“The IPO will assess that information, triage it, de-conflict and develop it, and then we will pass that as a package to a law enforcement partner,” says Mr. Cooke-Welling.
"It’s trying to take a needle out of a haystack, but what we need to be doing is building knowledge so that we can start to take out the bales of hay."
-Andrew Cooke-Welling | UK Intellectual
Property Office (UK)
Those law enforcement partners include the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU), part of the City of London Police; UK Border Force; and Trading Standards.
Detective Chief Inspector Emma Warbey of PIPCU (UK) will be taking part in the session, along with Kate Caffery, Head of Intelligence, UKIPO, and Chloe Long, Deputy Director General, Anti-Counterfeiting Group (UK).
“The biggest thing we do is facilitate public–private partnerships,” says Ms. Long. “Collaboration with other brands is often the best way to get cases actioned, as we can build an intelligence package which enables law enforcement to take it on. We’re always trying to be data-led.”
The strategy is working. According to the UK Customs Intellectual Property Enforcement Report 2021–2023, published in November last year, UK Border Force seized more than five million counterfeit articles with a retail value exceeding £500 million in the previous three years.
The panel will discuss the lessons learned from recent enforcement cases during the session.
Over the past 12 months, PIPCU has led an operation that resulted in the seizure of £5 million worth of counterfeit football shirts and kit. Seven people were arrested and 20,000 counterfeit dog products were seized (including supplements, toys, and leads), which could have posed a safety risk to both pets and people.
"One of the biggest changes we’re seeing is influencers normalizing the purchase of counterfeits."
-Chloe Long | Anti-Counterfeiting Group (UK)
Also last year, the UKIPO launched a campaign called Fake Toys, Real Harms. It reported that, in the first nine months of the year, more than 259,000 fake toys were confiscated, 90 percent of them counterfeit LABUBU dolls. The UKIPO said that 75 percent of seized products failed safety tests, and 46 percent of purchasers experienced serious safety issues.
It also published research showing that about a quarter of people had knowingly made a counterfeit purchase and that consumers aged 18 to 44 were most likely to purchase counterfeits. The research confirmed the post-COVID trend of increased online and lower in-person purchasing.
With the growth of online commerce, Ms. Long says that it is increasingly important for brands to share insights from the trends that they are seeing, such as emerging platforms and social media channels. “For example, one of the biggest changes we’re seeing is influencers normalizing the purchase of counterfeits,” she explains.
As well as supporting enforcement actions, sharing information helps to build educational and awareness campaigns such as Fake Toys, Real Harms.
Mr. Cooke-Welling says the UKIPO’s counter-infringement strategy is based on the four Ps: preventing people from engaging in, facilitating or supporting IP crime; protecting, to make it harder commit IP crime through technology and legislation; preparing by strengthening resilience to IP crime by working with partners and improving access to justice; and pursuing the criminals, their finances and the enablers through effective enforcement including prosecution and disruption through criminal civil and voluntary measures.
“Prevention is very much a coordinated activity, amplifying law enforcement action, including media and working with industry to change policy where necessary. We need to look at the enabling technology, supply chains, logistics and international frameworks to prevent the counterfeits coming into the country in the first place,” he says.
To that end, the UKIPO works closely with international partners.
Mr. Cooke-Welling has recently returned from an annual enforcement visit to China—which is the number one source of counterfeits entering the UK. “We’ve got some really strong partnerships with both government and industry contacts in China,” he says.
In this session, the speakers aim to explore some current trends in counterfeiting, explain how public–private partnerships support enforcement, and provide some practical tips for brand owners.
“Counterfeiters evolve quickly,” says Ms. Long. “The more we work collaboratively, the more chance we have of keeping pace with them.”
