Counterfeits
If you believe that you have found a counterfeit product, please inform us about this or call to the Finnish Customs' telephone number 0800 1 4600.
What is a counterfeit?
- A product which makes unauthorised use of, or imitates, a trademark
- A product which without permission copies the appearance of a product where that appearance is protected by industrial design right
What is a pirated goods?
- A product incorporating a copy of someone else's work which is protected by copyright
How to identify a counterfeit product?
- simply use a common sense in order to recognize a counterfeit product.
- bad quality of a branded product
- lower price compared to the original product
- the place of purchse may give a hint
- misspellings in products
What kind of products can be counterfeits?
- software and computer games
- recorded music
- vide tapes
- clothes and footware
- belts, bags and other accessories
- perfumes
- watches and jewellery
- sunglasses
- mobile phone parts and utilities
- toys
- spare parts and accessories
- medicines
- foodstuffs and candies
- all other products
Why not buy counterfeits?
- the material used in the product may cause health problems, clothes may cause allergic reactions, for example, or the material may be flammable
- medicines may not have the intended effects and the side effects may be dangerous
- spare parts in cars, aircrafts, ships etc. may cause accidents
- parts of electronic equipment may cause short circuits or other damage
- inadequate user manuals may cause accidents
- nobody takes responsibility for the product and its defects - no guarantee
- the quality of the product is poor and despite being cheaper than the original product, the price-quality ratio is not good
- approximately 100 000 jobs are lost every year in Europe as a result of reduction in sales and manufacturing of the original products
- counterfeits cause states to lose tax incomes which will be collected in another way from the tax payers
- selling counterfeits is a punishable act, which can lead to liability for damages and forfeiting of the counterfeit products
- counterfeit production is a part of international, organised crime
