Tutkimus Euroopan yhteisön tavaramerkkien ja mallien harmonisointivirastolta: €1.4 billion lost every year across the EU due to fake toys and games

OHIM: €1.4 billion lost every year across the EU due to fake toys and games

Toys and games manufacturers across the EU lose approximately €1.4 billion each year due to the presence of counterfeit products in the market. A new report from the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM), the EU ́s largest intellectual property agency, reveals that 12.3% of sales in the EU toys and games sector is lostdue to counterfeiting.

Those lost sales translate into 6,150 jobs, as legitimate manufacturers employ fewer people than they would have done in the absence of counterfeiting. The toys and games manufacturing sector in the EU is largely made up of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), employing, on average, around 10 workers per firm.

The report also shows that, when the direct and indirect effects of counterfeiting in the toys and games manufacturing sector are taken into account, €370 million in government revenue is lost across the EU, in terms of lost VAT, income tax, social security contributions and tax on company profits.

The report, released by OHIM acting through the European Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights, covers the manufacture of products like dolls, action figures, stuffed animals, board games, toy musical instruments, model trains and puzzles. It does not include video games consoles, software for video games or bicycles.

Read more: https://oami.europa.eu/ohimportal/en/web/observatory/ipr_infringement_toys_and_games