Counterfeiting is the illegal reproduction / imitation of products. Such reproduction/imitation is illegal when an Intellectual Property Right (IPR) is infringed, inter alia: a registered trademark or trade name, and/or an unregistered proprietary right for the "trade dress" or "get-up" or designation of a product, and/or a patent, utility model and/or design right/design patent, and/or a copyright.

The IPRs listed above are infringed if any of the following occurs:

·        Registered trademark or trade name: the copy products bear a mark or other

designation which is identical or confusingly similar to that of a product with a

registered trade mark or trade name;

·        Unregistered "trade dress" / "get-up" / designation: these terms designate

the copy products which have a form and visual appearance, or bear a

designation which are recognised by the public as distinctive and hinting to a

specific producer. The public may therefore be led to the erroneous belief that

the copy products come from the same source as the original products.

·        Patent, utility model, design right: here one or more parts of the original

product are protected by valid patents and/or utility models and/or design rights

(in the U.S. called design patents), and these protected parts show up in the

copy product.

·        Copyright: the copy product is a text (brochure, book, pamphlet, manual etc.) or picture or film or sound or computer software or technical document and drawing, which is basically identical with the original product.