The Anti-Counterfeiting Blog conducted an unofficial survey of professionals in different roles in the anti-counterfeiting industry and asked "Who has the main moral responsibility to prevent counterfeits from infiltrating the marketplace?" Another way to ask this question is "Who should be paying your salary?" We got an interesting mix of answers.

About equal numbers of people answered that manufacturers or customers have most of the responsibility to take anti-counterfeiting measures. These two categories made up the vast majority (about 80%) of answers. A few people said everyone involved in the supply chain has a responsibility and a few people said the government has the ultimate responsibility.

Of course the issue is a bit more nuanced than what is described above. Every industry has different factors and requirements in their anti-counterfeiting measures.  Every product also has its own danger level if counterfeited.  Documents issued by the government turn the government into the manufacturer which turns this whole debate on its head.

Let's also not forget that customers have limited power to take anti-counterfeiting measures completely on their own. Customers can educate themselves about counterfeit and they can avoid purchasing goods that are obviously counterfeit. However there are few if any anti-counterfeiting technologies available for customers to enact on their own without the brand owner organizing it.  Even if the responsibility of anti-counterfeiting morally falls on the customer, the customer still needs the help of brand owners and the government to carry out their responsibility.

In short - the majority of anti-counterfeiting professionals feel that the customer or the manufacturer has the ultimate responsibility which means that it is up to manufactureres to put anti-counterfeiting programs in place. The real debate is over who should pay for it. Should the manufacturer bear the cost, or should the cost be passed onto customers?

We had the opportunity to speak with professionals in a lot of different roles in the fight against counterfeit. None were shy about sharing their opinions on this issue. We have anonymously quoted some of them below to give human insight into the issue:  

"Everyone involved in the supply chain has a stake in ensuring that products (whatever they may be) are protected from counterfeiting attacks."

"Of course there's a distinction between counterfeit products that harm only the brand owner's profits and reputation, and counterfeits that harm people physically. You might think that the ethics arguments are strong only for counterfeits that hurt people physically, but I'd argue it's more complicated than that."

"Can we really expect those on low incomes not to buy a dodgy CD/DVD or a copy Handbag from a market stall?"

"Trademark owners have the discretion to enforce their trademarks. There is no legal obligation to enforce their marks beyond maintaining the registrations. Nevertheless many companies feel a sense of corporate responsibility, duty to their loyal customers, and to their employees to fight counterfeits."

"I think that the consumers need to be further educated so that they understand the economic effects of purchasing counterfeit products. Some brand owners have elected to educate the public by way of advertisements and even dedicated pages on their websites. Once the facts have been presented it is a moral/ethical issue with consumers."

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