The Problem
Theft of original ideas is the worst form of
robbery in the fashion industry. Considerable effort is invested
in creating distinctive designs and establishing trademarks. Yet, industrial and commercial
counterfeiting represents an estimated 5 to 7% of world trade. International organisations like the World Intellectual Property Organisation, Interpol and Europol are
becoming increasingly concerned with this growing crime. The problem was
raised at the 2003 World Economic Forum, which endorsed the view that for several
years counterfeiting is controlled by criminal organisations and
even terrorist groups.
The illegal profits made from counterfeiting are a loss of millions each
year to industry,
governments and the community. The first victims are
businesses, which lose sales revenue, market share and
investments. Well developed brand images are also at risk of devaluation. Governments
and communities also pay a high
economic cost both in terms of employment (100,000 jobs are lost each year
in the EU) and lost tax revenues due to the reduction in declared sales.
In China, the authorities estimate that they lose $3 billion in tax
revenues each year, while the UK authorities estimate VAT evasion at $2.4
billion.
The
Solution
A form of continuous
 , integrated
into a fine thread and used as an anti-counterfeiting measure in apparel
and many other industries. The
 is
an encrypted thread which may be sewn into clothing labels or any item
from a fabric or paper. The
is
encrypted with a unique alphanumeric code. It works in a similar way to
, to prevent
fraud and counterfeiting in the clothing and fabric industries. |
