The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) collaborate to raise awareness about counterfeit goods with a new campaign.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office and the National Crime Prevention Council are collaborating to raise public awareness of the dangers related to and damage caused by purchasing counterfeit goods.
USPTO and NCPC in their announcement defined counterfeit items as “illegal replicas of real products, designed to deceive and take advantage of the superior value of genuine merchandise. The public may not know that counterfeit goods threaten consumers’ health and safety, hurt the U.S. economy, and support international organised crime.”
Mary Boney Denison, Commissioner for Trademarks, announced this exciting new collaboration to increase public awareness and to combat counterfeits at USPTO’s ‘Forum on Brand Protection and Anti-Counterfeiting Strategies’. This event had some 400 total participants, both in-person and online, they reported.
Together with the USPTO, the NCPC will create an anti-counterfeiting campaign using public service advertising (PSAs) to include television, radio, outdoor, social media, and digital messaging directed to consumers. The campaign will also provide educational materials and tools to NCPC’s network of crime prevention practitioners and law enforcement officers who, in turn, will use those resources to teach their communities about the dangers of counterfeit goods.
“The health and safety risks of counterfeits to the consuming public are a huge concern,” said Denison, “as is protecting the investment of brand owners in their products. Fakes cheat the brand owner and the consumer. By working with NCPC and McGruff the Crime Dog, we want to make sure the public is aware of the importance of intellectual property to our economy and global trade and the dangers of buying fakes.”
“We are thrilled to be collaborating with USPTO to engage the public in the battle against dangerous counterfeits,” said Ann M. Harkins, President and CEO of NCPC. “That’s what we’re here to do with this campaign – protect the public by raising awareness and changing buying behaviour.”
