ANTICOUNTERFEITING IN

PAKISTAN

COUNTERFEIT

A 'counterfeit' is generally an article which is

intentionally made to look like an original article
so that customers are deceived into buying the
counterfeit for the original.

COUNTERFEITING

has been defined under Section 28 of Pakistan

Penal Code. It is causing one thing to resemble
other things; and intending by means of that
resemblance to practice deception or knowing it
to be likely that deception will thereby be
practiced.

Thus, if one thing is made to resemble another thing

and the intention is that by such resemblance
deception would be practiced or even if there is no
intention but it is known to be likely that the
resemblance is such that deception will thereby be
practiced there it is counterfeiting.
AIR 1960 SC 669

Ordinarily, counterfeiting implies the idea of an

exact imitation; but for the purpose of Penal Code
there can be counterfeiting even though the imitation
is not exact and there are differences in detail between
the original and the imitation so long as the
resemblance is so close that deception may thereby be
practiced.

As a rule, counterfeits are significantly less

expensive than the original
The business houses, in general, do not address
the cost-pricing issue adequately. Unfortunately,
higher pricing when linked with barriers to
access tends to attract the consumers to use
counterfeit or the pirated goods to save on
money.

WHY COUNTERFEIT?

Counterfeiting comes from the problem that

needs to be noticed and understood.
It is the higher pricing difference between
the original and the counterfeit version that
gives rise to counterfeiting.

EXTENT:
Counterfeit

and pirated products are

being produced and consumed in virtually
all economies, with Asia emerging as the
single largest producing region. In recent
years there has been an alarming
expansion of the types of products being
infringed, from luxury items (such as
deluxe watches and designer clothing), to
items that have an impact on personal
health and safety (such as pharmaceutical
products, food and drink, medical
equipment, personal care items, toys,
tobacco and automotive parts).

FEW EXAMPLES

 "Counterfeiting"

is a virus that tends to erode

the brand value of a trade mark i.e. the
perception of a brand in the minds of
consumers.

As

a brand starts being counterfeited slowly but

surely, the perception of the branded product
starts to erode and when customers see a
branded product in the market or in the
possession of other customers they wonder
whether it is genuine or counterfeit.

KINDS OF COUNTERFEITING

Domestic Counterfeiting

Foreign Counterfeiting

Refilling

FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO
COUNTERFEITING
Greed
Cost

of Original Product
Short Supply of Original Product
Product kind, whether easily reproducible
Customer approach
Demographic environment. Densely
populated areas with lesser regulatory
checks are more akin to counterfeiting.
Ineffective punishments

SOLUTION

products that are prone to being counterfeited need to be

immunized by packaging the products or using tags or other
markings on them which are not possible to duplicate and giving
wide publicity and information to customers and the trade about
these identification signs.
Likewise, newer technologies are available which are not
susceptible to even digital reproduction. For instance packaging
films have been developed for pharmaceutical products with
embedded images (TM) which are product specific and
manufacturer specific. Use of these packaging films selectively
will eliminate counterfeiting and ensure that only genuine
products are available to patients.

 Manufacturers

should find means to

educate the public against counterfeit
products. They should provide tips on the
ways to distinguish the fakes from the
originals. Articles and pamphlets are
some of the ways of doing that. Serial
numbers are alphanumeric numbers
which can be used for identification. These
unique numbers can help sellers identify
the fakes.

Effective
policies
and
strategies
Anti-counterfeiting policies and strategies are
either ineffective or are not used properly by
government officers. This gives counterfeiters
enough time to get away or lighter punishments
if
they
are
caught.

Since it is the manufacturers who suffer the most

when counterfeiters are given a free pass, it is
their responsibility to restrain the activities of
the counterfeiters at any cost.

The harm is obvious, so I suggest we create a

public awareness what the counterfeiting is and
what harm is it causing to our society in terms of
lives, values, and the revenues. To keep the jinni
in bottle we have to apply a tighter lid to the
bottle.

In brief, we all need to engage a meaningful

association. The biggest threat of present day is
the digital piracy, which according to a study
carried out by Mark Monitor estimated global
impact of US Dollars 200 billion annually.

ANOTHER DARK SIDE

Further, according to European Commission,

International Criminal Organizations, involved in
counterfeiting production, exploit their work force;
often largely consisting of children who are locked up
in cramped conditions without having any concern of
their safety or of Human Rights.

LEGISLATION
Pakistan's legislation has been amended
periodically to bring it into line with the
requirements of the Agreement on Trade-Related
Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs).
Relevant provisions have also been incorporated
into or reflected in other laws, such as the
Customs Act 1969, the Drugs Act 1976, the
Federal Investigation Act 1974 and the Penal
Code, in order to strengthen the authorities' hand
in enforcing IP rights.

Presently, the relevant laws that cater to counterfeiting

under civil and criminal jurisdiction are;
i)Trade Marks Ordinance 2001 (Civil Remedy)
ii)- Copyright Ordinance 1962
(Civil / Criminal
Remedy)
iii)- The Patent Ordinance 2000
(Civil Remedy)
iv)- Registered Design Ord. 2000
(Civil Remedy)
v)- Pakistan Penal Code 1886
(Criminal Remedy)
vi)- Customs Act 1969 (Criminal Remedy)
vii)- The Drugs Act 1976
(Criminal Remedy)

 Needless

to point out, that private parties may

avail remedies through Courts of law under
Civil Laws in the shape of Permanent
Injunctions, Damages and Rendering Accounts
for profits.
Whereas,
state cases are registered for
committing offenses under criminal laws, as
aforesaid and punitive measures are taken
against counterfeit under said laws including
but not limited to arrest, detention,
imprisonment, confiscation of goods, imposition
of fines and heavy penalty.

ROLE OF GOVERNMENT

The Parliament in January 2010 adopted a resolution

pertaining to the sale of spurious drugs thereby inviting
government to take all possible measures to curb the
activities of those involved and to apprehend the
culprits and to give out exemplary punishments. It was
debated during the course in the house that though
there are numerous laws in the country to curb the
menace of fake medicines and the actions against
quacks, yet the non-implementation of those laws
meticulously has given free hand to the unscrupulous
elements. The House adopted the resolution with
recommendations to make laws more stringent and
hassle free for the enforcement agencies to uproot the
social evil. The House strongly recommended
introduction of strict punishments for those found
guilty of carrying out business of counterfeit drugs.

Significant anti-counterfeit Operations

undertaken by Law Enforcement Agencies
in Pakistan:

(FIA )- HERE I SHALL RENDER SPECIFIC

CASES OF INCIDENCE.

i)Pfizer Products Inc. USA through its Attorney in

Pakistan initiated a case against a large scale sale of a
counterfeit of its well known drug VIAGRA, LIPITOR &
CYTOTEC in local market at Karachi. After initial
investigation by its attorney, a complaint was got registered
with the Deputy Director, Federal Investigation Authority,
Karachi who in accordance with applicable laws and in
compliance of the official formalities, sought permission
from the relevant authority and conducted raids at local
wholesale medicine market. That during the course of
investigation large quantities of counterfeit drugs were got
recovered. Likewise, FIA conducted a similar action against
the printing press involved in printing of the counterfeit
packaging material for said drugs and recovered bundles of
counterfeit / pirated / fake printed material together with
dyes and plates used for said printing under the provisions
of Copyright Ordinance 1962 that empowers Police to take
direct cognizance of an offence upon compliant.
Accordingly, a case under was got registered. The
investigation in the case is underway to apprehend the
main culprits involved in the case.

FIA conducted raids in the Urdu Bazar, Lahore and

have

confiscated

pirated

copies

of

Oxford

University Press (OUP) books and arrested the

persons involved in the commission of offence.
Thousands of illegal copies of text books have been
confiscated by the authority during the week long
operation. The case against the accused persons has
been lodged under the Copyright Laws.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
References:
Dr. Mohan Dewan who is a Trade Mark Attorney
and Patent Agent From India.