2024-04-23 19:39:21
Chinese plagiarism on the German market costs the domestic economy around 50 billion euros a year. But stopping them poses major problems for the government. Recognizing them is becoming increasingly difficult.
A number of copies of German products can be found on the world market – and they are also pushing into the domestic market. Most of these come from China. Doing something about it is more difficult than expected because China is and remains an important market for German companies. The plagiarism is not only annoying, it also costs the German economy dearly. It incurs around 50 billion euros worth of damage every year. But jobs are also affected.
According to official information from the federal government, up to 80,000 jobs are lost due to product piracy. In an interview with NDR in 2019, the then CDU State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Economics, Thomas Bareiß, said: “There can be no compromises on this issue and you have to fight for your rights.” However, due to China’s economic power, it is not always a “dialogue on equal terms”.
Brazen business ploy by the counterfeiters
And this despite the fact that many of the counterfeit products are even protected by patents. But that doesn’t bother the counterfeiters. Most plagiarisms reach the market within a few weeks. But not just backyard deals or ominous stalls at markets. It’s more like organized crime. The plagiarisms are often sold via online platforms such as Amazon, Temu or Ebay.
In many cases, however, the counterfeiters are even more brazen: they fake a brand’s entire website, use the same photos and then lure people with extreme discounts through advertising on websites and social media. Hardly noticeable for consumers. This is what happened in the “Fjällräven” case, as NDR and “Die Zeit” were able to track.
Retailers from China have copied the outdoor brand’s popular “Kraken” backpack and offered it on a false website. In one day alone, eleven such backpacks arrived at German customs at Frankfurt Airport. A laboratory test showed that the processed substance was heavily contaminated with carcinogenic heavy metals. In doing so, the criminals not only endanger the “Fjällräven” company, but also the health of their customers.
Every year, “Plagiarius” awards a negative prize to counterfeits
Another example is a plagiarism of a “Stihl” chainsaw. This was awarded the Negative Prize by the “Plagiarius” campaign in 2021. The “Sthil” chainsaw was manufactured in China. The Waiblingen-based original company sued successfully and told the “Schwäbische Zeitung”: “We only have very few cases of plagiarism on the German market.”
The fight against counterfeits is arduous and expensive. Small companies in particular can hardly afford to sue. And even if one manufacturer in China is found and shut down, the next one is almost immediately on the scene and continues to sell the wrong products.
Lawyer Aliki Busse takes action against trademark infringements every day and is a member of Aktion Plagiarius. Every week, Busse reports between 40 and 70 counterfeits for a single client product. In their opinion, China is not interested in really taking action against it.
Business is booming
Counterfeiting products is also banned in China. Nevertheless, around 65 percent of all plagiarism comes from the People’s Republic. One possible reason: The products can be manufactured and offered particularly cheaply. The counterfeiters also save themselves the costs of product development because this preparatory work has already been done by the original manufacturers.
Since more and more people are shopping online, business is booming. Every day, over a million shipments from outside the EU arrive by airmail at the International Postal Distribution Center (IPZ) at Frankfurt Airport. In 2022, customs seized more than eight million counterfeit products. Almost 80 percent of them came from China.