I also picked this topic for my individual white paper proposal. I approached the topic from a slightly different angle. There have been some many law suits recently with mass market retailers such as Wal Mart, and Sam’s Club having patent and trademark law suits.

I talked about the working conditions in the sweat shops were these counterfeit goods are produced, and where the funds go from the profits. Countries such as Italy and France have severely cracked down on the laws for purchasing counterfeit goods. Severe fines are being imposed on people in these countries who are purchasing fake handbags and accessories. Many fashion magazines such as Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar have been running ad campaigns called Fight Fakes to discourage the purchase of counterfeit goods.

There are companies like YottaMark that can devise a system to verify that the authenticity of your brand. Systems like this can be extremely costly. If companies in the fashion industry banded together to take a stand on fighting the sales of counterfeit goods, it would be easier to fight the problem. The paper could be targeted to consumers, high end brands, or to Customs.

http://www.yottamark.com/solution/index.htm

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/culture/articles/030714/14counterfeit.htm

http://www.havocscope.com/Counterfeit/counterfeit.htm