The EUIPO reveals the negative impact of piracy on the market

The latest report by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) has revealed that the Spanish economy suffers a significant loss of employment opportunities and annual capital due to counterfeiting. The report, focused on three key sectors (clothing, cosmetics and toys), has demonstrated that piracy causes a reduction of 15,044 jobs and losses of up to 1,511 million euros (equivalent to 6.7% of sales in these sectors).

This report, which includes the average annual losses for the period between 2018 and 2021, highlights that in the clothing sector alone, 11,208 jobs and 1 billion euros are lost annually due to product counterfeiting. However, based on the percentage, the sector that suffers the most is the toy industry, with losses reaching 11% of its total sales. As for the cosmetics and clothing sectors, they record losses of 5.5% and 3.7% respectively in their total sales.

In line with the results of the report, the Association for Brand Defense (Andema) has pointed out the need to carry out coordinated actions at national and European levels between associations, companies and institutions to combat counterfeiting. To this end, Andema has highlighted the importance of making European society aware of the severe damage that counterfeits can cause both to the economy and to the safety and health of consumers.

In the report, Spain stands out for its effectiveness in detecting counterfeit products at its borders, ranking on a par with countries such as Bulgaria, Croatia, Latvia, Hungary and Portugal. Despite this, data from the EUIPO suggest that there is still a long way to go.