The UKIPO have published their
Annual IP Crime and Enforcement Report: 2016 to 2017. This highlights current and emerging counterfeiting and piracy threats in the UK and overseas. The accompanying report looks at a selection of successful IP cases prosecuted by Trading Standards over the last year.
The reports have a wealth of information on the IP crime landscape. Numbers that leapt out to me as a trade mark attorney were the over 2 million suspected infringing items being stopped last year by UK Border force, and that there were 433 people found guilty of criminal offences under the UK Trade Marks Act. The stakeholders and enforcement agencies included in the report all highlight the importance of addressing online auction sites and marketplaces as avenues for infringing/counterfeit products.