Monday - Counterfeit Focus

The links below will remind you of why counterfeiting is Africa's single biggest IP problem. Look out too for Sara Spiro's ASA column due out today.

In a move that spells relief for Indian generic drug manufacturers, at least five East African countries—Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and Sudan—have refused to endorse a proposal by the East African Community (EAC) to introduce an anti-counterfeit products law. The East African states have “refused to endorse the draft proposal and have demanded that the definition of generics be what WHO (World Health Organization) stipulates”, said Baguma, who is also a director of Ugandan generic drug firm Quality Chemicals Industries Ltd. (LiveMint)

Thousands of fake or bogus tickets for the football World Cup this summer in South Africa are being sold on websites including Gumtree for many times their face value, an investigation by The Times has found. Times Online

The South African Football Association and its technical sponsor Adidas said on Tuesday they would investigate the latest counterfeit Bafana Bafana jerseys being sold in Gauteng. (Eyewitness News)

Three Nigerian nationals were arrested in Johannesburg after being found in possession of counterfeit money, Gauteng police said on Tuesday. (News24)

Two police operations yesterday netted R1,1 million in counterfeit money and uncovered goods worth R42m in a Kempton Park warehouse. The operations were not related. The goods included fake Springbok rugby jerseys, Pringle shirts, kitchenware, shoes and Zam-Buk ointment worth about R5m. (IOL)

Counterfeit medicines are a widespread problem in developing countries. Like other counterfeits, they look like real products. But counterfeit drugs may contain too much, too little or none of the active ingredients of the real thing. (VOA Part 1 and Part 2 - Dangers of counterfeit drugs)

A new firm that sells office supplies has opened an office in Nairobi. Despec International says that apart from offering a wide range of products, it will also provide product training to help fight counterfeits. (Daily Nation)

Users of HP products in Ghana are at a higher risk of using fake products, especially printer cartridges as a result of growing counterfeiting. And Hewlett Packard (HP) is not sitting on the fence and watching. The company is acting to redeem its business and save customers. (Ghana Business News)

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