07 | 06 | 2017

World Anti-Counterfeiting Day - 7 June 2017

The World Anti-Counterfeiting Day has been marked in June every year since 1998, established by the Global Anti-Counterfeiting Network (GACG) in order to raise awareness of the damages caused by counterfeiting. This year, the World Anti-Counterfeiting Day is marked on 7 June.

Any product, including its packaging, marked with an equal or not substantially different trademark without authorization of a trademark holder, thus infringing the holder’s rights to this trademark, is considered a counterfeit product. With regard to contemporary proportions of counterfeiting, the holders of intellectual property rights suffer significant damage in business, and counterfeiting has also far-reaching detrimental social consequences. Successful and efficient enforcement of intellectual property rights ensures at the same time consumer protection, protection of citizens’ health and safety, protection of the economy and preservation of workplaces, prevention of organized crime, but it also encourages innovativeness and increase in the quality of production.

The World Anti-Counterfeiting Day presents yet another opportunity to invite the public to contribute to its own safety and joint combat against this ever growing social hazard by purchasing legal products and by reporting those ones who sell or offer counterfeit products for sale.

On the occasion of the World Anti-Counterfeiting Day, the common educational activity titled “Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy” conducted throughout the Republic of Croatia ever since 2011 and  organized by competent government authorities and organizations participating in the coordination mechanism for the enforcement of intellectual property rights, continues. These actions aim at raising public awareness of negative social consequences of counterfeiting and piracy and of the importance to respect intellectual property and copyright as a basis for encouraging and independent artistic creation, and informing about counterfeiting and piracy impact on the economy, as well as on citizens’ health and safety. The action will be held on 9 June in Šibenik.