You Seized the Goods, Now What?

OlarteMoure was present at IACC, where we participated in various panels, one of which was relevant: You Seized the Goods, Now What?

When piracy is attacked, in 90% of cases, counterfeit products are retained, these products ultimately end up in the hands of customs, the prosecution, the owner of the infringed trademark or in the hands of the offender, yes, with orders not to be mobilized.

In the forum different alternatives were discussed for the purpose of these seizures, it should be noted that not all the alternatives that we are going to mention are applicable in Colombia, but they are, in several countries.

The donation of these products is possible in some countries, but as a general rule this is not the recommended option, since the product will circulate the same as if it were marketed, also in the case of being products that are harmful to humans, for example a textile that could have been produced with carcinogenic inks, or more dramatic themes such as food with altered shelf life.

Another scenario is recycling, this can be done in two ways:

The first one, the reuse of recycled products in some other activity, this method is not recommended for the reason that they will circulate the same as in the case of donations.

On the other hand, the possibility of destruction so it could later be used in recycling, for example, a large number of products made from some derivative of plastic were seized, by destroying them and from the raw material they could be used in several manufactured pieces with the input of this reprocessed material

This can only be done when for some reason the product is in the hands of the owner or some kind of campaign by the legal authorty.

In Colombia, the most common practice is to use incineration laboratories authorized by the authorities.

The fight against climate change is undoubtedly the highest priority on the agenda of many institutions, and the fight against piracy is no exception. The authorities in charge of managing the destruction, are working on searching and finding better ways to do it, a proposed strategy that the brand owners can use, is to advocate for the products to be destroyed in recycling laboratories and eventually buy those waste supplies and manufacture completely recycled products.

Thanks to this world forum, where we managed to share these experiences, we now understand that the number one priority is a joint search with the authorities for more sustainable ways to destroy counterfeits.

Without a doubt, the anti-piracy and anti-counterfeiting world understands this and is also working on figuring out how it can help the environment and climate change.

By: