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Shoosmiths joins Euro-wide battle against fake goods

19 May 2010

Shoosmiths has joined a pan-European coalition aimed at fighting counterfeit goods and piracy

The national law firm has joined CAPIP.EU, which boasts 23 member law firms, and offices in 29 jurisdictions.

Partner and intellectual property (IP) specialist Gary Assim said: "These days, fake goods don’t just mean CDs, DVDs, clothes and luxury goods.

"We're now seeing counterfeit pharmaceuticals, medical equipment and personal-care products, which all pose obvious risks to end users. And there’s a growing number of fake children’s toys and electrical equipment."

In 2008 more than 180m counterfeit and pirated goods worth an estimated €15 billion were seized by European Union customs officials, up 125% on 2007.

International criminal groups and terrorist organisations are thought to fund their activities with money from fake and pirated goods, and the high quality of fakes nowadays makes them almost impossible to detect without technical expertise.

Assim said: "This causes enormous damage to trademarks and brands. The money lost by rights holders is difficult to estimate and even more difficult to recover.

"What CAPIP.EU offers is legal services to IP rights holders, helping them find, seize and destroy counterfeit goods, with pan-European cases managed by a single contact."

Shoosmiths got involved in the coalition when working on IP cases alongside a number of the European firms involved, with whom they have strong relationships built up from attending International Trade Mark Association meetings.

Assim said: "One of the firms had initially discussed, with a client of theirs, the idea of a single point of contact to deal with counterfeits for Europe. The idea was tested with other firms and clients and it has finally come to fruition. The members of the coalition and their clients are very excited by its prospects."

Full details are available at: www.capip.eu

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Gary Assim

Partner
T: 03700 86 8411
I: +44 (0)1908 48 8411
E: gary.assim@shoosmiths.co.uk