06/06/2018 12:55
The Cypriot economy loses €198 mln every year due to counterfeiting in 13 economic sectors, an amount equal to 15.1% of their sales.
The sectors mostly affected by the presence of fake products in the Cypriot marketplace are clothing, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, jewellery, as well as spirits and wine.
According to a research from the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), released today, the accumulated losses are equivalent to €234 per Cypriot citizen per year, while 1,256 jobs are also directly lost in these sectors.
In Cyprus, the sector of clothing, footwear and accessories loses annually €69 mln or 13.2% of total sales, followed by losses worth €36 mln in cosmetics and personal care products (24.4% of sales), and €30 mln in pharmaceuticals (14% of sales).
According to an announcement by the EUIPO, the impact from counterfeiting is estimated at €60 bln all over the EU, corresponding to 7.5 % of their sales. Losses amount to €116 per EU citizen every year.
Over the past 5 years, the EUIPO has been tracking the economic cost of counterfeiting in sectors known to be vulnerable to intellectual property rights (IPR) infringements, the announcement says.
The affected sectors include cosmetics and personal care, clothing, footwear and accessories, sports goods, toys and games, jewellery and watches, handbags and luggage, recorded music, spirits and wine, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, smartphones, batteries and tyres.
The Executive Director of the EUIPO, António Campinos, said that reporting carried out over the past 5 years, has given, for the first time, a comprehensive picture of the economic impact of counterfeiting and piracy on the EU economy and job creation, as well as intelligence on how intellectual property rights are infringed.
“Our work has been carried out so that policymakers and citizens can be in no doubt of the value of intellectual property and the damage that arises from its infringement” he added.
The EUIPO is the EU agency that manages the registration of the European Union trade mark (EUTM) and the registered Community design (RCD), both of which provide intellectual property protection in all EU Member States.