@Risk

Counterfeiting operations continue to expand in reach and sophistication, and that means counterfeit products increasingly threaten your supply chain –not to mention the health and safety of millions of people worldwide, as well.

There appears to be a growing consensus that traditional methods of oversight and enforcement are simply not enough to stem the tide of fakes, and legitimate businesses are hungry for innovation to help protect their products and intellectual property.

Case in point:  Last month, the iconic acoustic guitar manufacturer C.F. Martin & Co., announced that it is partnering with Applied DNA Sciences to help secure its brand from global counterfeiting threats.

According to the Applied DNA Sciences website, the company can use DNA to protect either a product or the entire supply chain.  One method, called the SigNature DNA solution, uses DNA from plants to mark and authenticate products. Another, called BioMaterial GenoTyping, can use DNA present in natural material to assure originality and quality throughout the supply chain. Applied DNA Sciences lists applications in: (more…)

A report last year by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security, Office of Technology Evaluation found that counterfeit electronics are present in troubling amounts in the Department of Defense supply chain.

Then, in March, the Senate Armed Services Committee launched an investigation into this growing problem.

Now, the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center) has announced “Operation Chain Reaction,” a new comprehensive initiative to target the counterfeit and pirated goods entering the supply chains of the DOD and other US government agencies.

This is the first time that IPR Center participants have come together to collectively address the threat posed by fake parts in government supply chains. The list of IPR Center participants includes:

• US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)
• US Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
• Federal Bureau of Investigation
• Naval Criminal Investigative Service
• Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS)
• US Army Criminal Investigative Command, Major Procurement Fraud Unit
• General Services Administration, Office of Inspector General
• Defense Logistics Agency, Office of Inspector General
• US Air Force, Office of Special Investigations

In a press release, ICE revealed a few examples of recent investigations involving counterfeit products entering the federal supply chain. Check out these cases, which illustrate the need for immediate attention to this critically important issue: (more…)

Counterfeit products are a threat to everyone’s health and safety. Plus, they extract an enormous economic toll, as well. Analysts now estimate that counterfeiting costs US companies alone $250 billion and results in the annual loss of 750,000 American jobs.

What can your company do to combat this growing global concern?

For starters, I suggest you read through a free report recently published by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).

This report, Best Practices in the Fight against Global Counterfeiting: An Action Guide to Strengthen Cooperation and Collaboration across Industry Sectors and among Global Supply Chains,  is the product of a 2010 ANSI workshop and conference on anti-counterfeiting, and it includes insights from industry representatives and professionals from trade organizations and associations, academia, consumer groups, law enforcement, and government agencies.

The report also outlines several recommendations to assess and address counterfeiting across industry sectors. These suggestions include: (more…)

Last week, the Senate Armed Services Committee announced that it has launched an investigation into counterfeit electronic parts in the Department of Defense’s supply chain.

According to a statement by Senators Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.), chairman and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, the presence of counterfeit electronic parts in the Defense Department’s supply chain is a growing problem, and both government and industry share a common interest in solving it.

From the statement:

Counterfeit electronic parts pose a risk to our national security, the reliability of our weapons systems and the safety of our military men and women. The proliferation of counterfeit goods also damages our economy and costs American jobs.

A report last January by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security, Office of Technology Evaluation, found that counterfeit electronics are already present in troubling amounts in the DOD supply chain. The report, which covered 2005 to 2008, revealed that:

• More than one-third (39 percent) of the companies and organizations included in the study had encountered counterfeit electronics during the four-year period.

• The number of incidents grew from 3,868 in 2005 to 9,356 in 2008.

OTE made several recommendations in the report. For example, in order to inhibit the circulation of counterfeit electronics, the OTE wants the US government to: (more…)

The European Parliament has approved a new law to help prevent fake drugs from entering the supply chain. The legislation introduces new safety regulations, traceability measures and sanctions against counterfeiters.

The problem of counterfeit drugs is a growing concern throughout the world. Researchers estimate that 1 percent of medicinal products sold to the European public through the legal supply chain are now fake. In other parts of the world, more than 30 percent of the medicines on sale can be fake, and counterfeiters appear to be increasingly targeting innovative and life-saving drugs.

An article at PharmaTimes outlines provisions of the new EU legislation. For instance, the new regulations require that: (more…)