Abstract
In the last few years, forgery has increased at a very rapid rate, and is now a world-wide industrial and cultural phenomenon. Forgery is not just limited to the luxury sector, but permeates the manufacture of all goods, so that all industries are concerned about the scourge. The issue of forgery has a major economic impact on society. It represents 5 to 9 % of the world's economic transactions. A number of gangsters have been identified as being involved in this sector. After the weapons and the drug markets, the counterfeiting market is considered the most profitable. As a consequence of forgery, the legal turnover of firms' declines as does their market shares and distribution network. This has the potential to "kill" not only the authentic product, but also the brand. Counterfeiting has been on the rise since 1995. The shortfall for companies due to it is nearly 200 to 300 billion Euros per year. France has experienced and average shortfall of 6 billion Euros. In France, one company in every two is a victim of imitation. The phenomenon is snowballing and as opposed to 25 million products seized in 1999, 85 million products were seized in the EU in 2002. The networks of manufacture and marketing of imitations show a geographical expansion, in which no country is spared. Asia is the leading producer of imitations and produces 95 % of the fake products in the markets.
