Only 40% of Brands Use Authentication Features, Survey Reveals

Anti-counterfeiting efforts have become a cost of doing business; brands are outsourcing their anti-counterfeiting activities to professional advisors, law firms, investigators, and technology companies; and only 40% of brands are actually using authentication features.

These are some of the findings of a recent survey by the International Trademark Association (INTA), conducted among its 121 corporate members.

The 2023 ‘INTA Anticounterfeiting Benchmarking Report’ provides a detailed analysis of how the association’s corporate members (comprising companies of different types, sizes and geographical locations – including large multinational brand owners) are working to tackle the issue. The report is also one of the first data-driven attempts to quantify the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on counterfeiting.

Below are some of the key findings.

Anti-counterfeiting activities have increased

Nearly two-thirds of respondents said that anti-counterfeiting activities had increased post-COVID-19. In particular, one respondent said, ‘anti-counterfeiting efforts have unfortunately become a cost of doing business’.