Neither an Authentic Product nor a Counterfeit: The Growing Popularity of Shanzhai Products in Global Markets.
Counterfeits have been a longstanding concern to global brand manufactures. However, recently, a new product category that partly imitates and partly innovates under the term shanzhai has entered into market. Shanzhai products mimic original leading brands through visual or functional similarities and may also provide additional features. Given this new copycat phenomenon, our study for the first time conceptually distinguishes shanzhai products from counterfeits, theoretically compares the values of consumers choosing shanzhai products versus counterfeits, and empirically tests such differences in one integrative model. Specifically, shanzhai buyers value product functional benefits more than counterfeit buyers, while counterfeit buyers value status consumption, yet experience less self‐clarity than shanzhai buyers. Our findings offer important implications for imitative innovation literature as well as for practitioners.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/cjas.1501
Lear More
INDIA’S COASTLINE PROTECTION FLEET – AN OVERVIEW
India is a predominantly maritime nation, with a coastline of 7,517 km. This influences all the spheres of Indian lifestyle, from trade to tourism. India’s peninsular orientation dominates trade connectivity with the rest of the world. Consequently, it is seen that safe sea trade is a direct influencer of the economic prosperity of the country. Even today, 90% of India’s trade, by volume, is made via sea routes, making security and safety imperative.
Tourism has developed in the coastal regions of India, necessitating better safety equipment and technological efficiency in boats and ships. Additionally, the vast biodiversity of our marine ecosystem needs constant protection and conservation. The rising threat of piracy and terrorism makes border control a very serious matter.
Given the influence of the seas on the economic and social stability of India, a strong defence force for the protection of the coast and marine territories is important. As we have seen previously, the responsibility of protecting our coastline is broadly divided between three principal forces, viz., the Indian Navy, the Indian Coast Guard, and the Border Security Force.
In this article, we see what the functions are, in maritime protection, and the vessels used by these forces that help them work efficiently.
Avenues of Marine Protection
Maritime Security
Protection of India’s territorial integrity, residents, and offshore assets from external, seaborne threats is the principal avenue of marine protection, handled by the Indian Navy. Furthermore, it is the responsibility of the Navy to deter conflict and coercion in these waters.
Coastal and Offshore Defence
Coastal and offshore defence is a part of maritime security and is primarily focused along the coastline, baseline, internal waters, and to an extent in the territorial waters. Though the overall management of the coastal and offshore defence operations falls under the purveyance of the Indian Navy, services are provided by other state and central forces such as the Indian Coast Guard, Border Security Force, State Police, Other Armed Forces, Central Industrial Security Force, Intelligence Agencies, Customs and Immigration Authorities, Port Trust Authority, and Shipping and Energy Operators.
https://www.shmgroup.com/blog/indias-coastline-protection-fleet-an-overview/
Lear More
Burberry burns unsold products worth £28.6 million to guard against counterfeiting; is it ethical?
Reportedly, the retailers said that the measure was much needed to prevent illegal counterfeiting by ensuring the supply chain remains intact.
Luxury label Burberry destroyed unsold clothes, accessories, cosmetic products and perfume worth more than £28 million (more than Rs 250 crore) over the past one year. This step was taken to guard the brand’s intellectual property against counterfeiting. As per Guardian‘s report, in a practice understood to be common across the retail industry, the luxury brand burned products including £10.4 million worth of beauty items. Reportedly, the retailers said that the measure was much needed to prevent illegal counterfeiting by ensuring the supply chain remains intact.
However, industry people and social media users are criticising this act and calling out on how the brands have often shown disrespect for its own produce. To understand if this practice is ethical or not, indianexpress.com reached out to financial advisor Safir Anand, who handle designers like Manish Malhotra and Gaurav Gupta.
Burberry burns unsold products worth £28.6 million to guard against counterfeiting; is it ethical?
Lear More
Airport bust uncovers 4.5 MILLION cigarettes disguised as toilet paper as accused smuggler faces court over the contraband.
Officers have seized 4.5 million undeclared cigarettes being smuggled into the country and arrested a duel citizen over the bust.
Australian Border Force officers stopped the 43-year-old man for a baggage search at the Melbourne International Airport on Sunday after uncovering a massive haul of smuggled tobacco.
A six day raid in April uncovered three shipping containers at the Melbourne Container Examination Facility and were marked as containing toilet paper, kitchen paper towels and napkins.
After being stopped and checked at the airport the dual national was arrested in connection to the smuggled contraband. Each shipment allegedly contained 1,500,000 undeclared cigarettes which represents a $3.2 million loss of taxation for the Australian government.
Assistant Commissioner Enforcement Command, Sharon Huey said ABF is seeing an increase in the amount of illicit tobacco being seized in Victoria.
Lear More
Smugglers hide 10,200 cigarette packs, chewing tobacco in truck carrying sand.
Muscat: Oman Customs busted smugglers attempting to bring in 10,200 packets of illegal cigarettes and 600 kilograms of chewing tobacco into the country by hiding them underneath a load of sand on a truck.
Oman Customs said in its statement: “The Wadi Al Jizi border customs foiled a unique smuggling operation of 10,200 packets of forbidden cigarettes and 600 kilograms of chewing tobacco, where the suspect has professionally hidden them in a truck loaded with sand.”
Smugglers have been caught trying to bring contraband and illegal substances into the country in a variety of techniques, with customs officers arresting an expatriate at Muscat airport earlier this year, who was carrying 8.7 kg of marijuana and 1,285 narcotic tablets that were covered with carbon paper.
http://timesofoman.com/article/136307
Lear More
NT$10 million in smuggled tobacco seized in Pingtung.
Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration (CGA) busted a tobacco smuggling operation in Pingtung County late Monday night and seized NT$10 million (US$333,667) worth of smuggled cigarettes, the CGA said Tuesday.
In a statement, the CGA said officers from its southern office seized 160,000 packs of untaxed cigarettes with a market value of NT$10 million from a Donggang-registered fishing boat called the “Chang Sheng” and arrested five crew members, including the captain.
The CGA, which worked on the case with the Kaohsiung Harbor Police Department, said the busting of the smuggling operation came after a month of effort following up on tip-offs and collecting evidence on the fishing boat’s moves.
Just after the fishing boat arrived in Donggang at around 11 p.m. Monday, CGA officers boarded the vessel and conducted a search that found the 160,000 packs of cigarettes stuffed into 331 big boxes hidden in the lower deck of the boat, the CGA said.
http://focustaiwan.tw/news/asoc/201805290013.aspx
Lear MoreDRI, Assam Rifles seize 12 kg gold smuggled from Myanmar in Manipur
Department of Revenue Intelligence sleuths and Assam Rifles troopers, in a joint operation on Thursday, seized over 12 kg of gold valued at Rs 3.62 crore in Manipur, said a release.
The raid, conducted on the basis of specific intelligence developed by DRI, unearthed gold from the India-Myanmar border at Moreh.
The joint team stopped two vehicles at Khudengthabi travelling from Moreh towards Imphal for checking, and found gold biscuits hidden inside the front and rear tyre of both cars.
Two persons have been apprehended, the DRI release said. The gold has been seized under the Customs Act.
DRI is the lead agency to combat cross border crime involving smuggling of gold, consumer goods, drugs and narcotics, wild life articles, Fake Indian Currency Notes and counterfeit goods, import-export frauds and trade based money laundering.
Lear MoreFICCI seeks amendment in Form 27 & patent law to facilitate commercialisation of patented product & ease of doing business
The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has urged the patent office to amend Form 27 and update Patent Rules in line with international best practices so as to befit emerging technological fields, make commercialization of patented invention more easier and facilitate ease of doing business.
Form 27 needs to be submitted by patentees under Section 146 (2) of The Patents Act, 1970 providing details of commercial working of a patent in India.
Said Dipankar Barkakati, additional director and head – IPR & FICCI CASCADE at FICCI, “Existing Form 27 requirement has become redundant, burdensome, hampers ease of doing business, makes commercialization of patented invention more difficult and is not aligned to international best practices. There is thus an urgent need to remove Section 146 (working statement requirement from statute book). While, such a change in the law may take some time, meanwhile, may we request patent office to consider updating the Patent Rules and amend ‘Form 27’ befitting the emerging technological fields.”
http://www.pharmabiz.com/NewsDetails.aspx?aid=108375&sid=1
Lear More
Uganda loses Sh3bn to illicit cigarette imports
The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) would have netted more than Ush200 billion (about Sh5.46 billion) from the cigarette trade alone but only got Ush74 billion (Sh2 billion) due to a surge in cigarette smuggling last year.
In a media briefing yesterday in Kampala, Mr Vincent Seruma, the URA assistant commissioner public and corporate affairs, said illicit importation of cigarettes occasions serious revenue losses to the exchequer.
“Cigarettes are high value. It enters the country through roguish ways which we are aware of. We have invested significantly in intelligence to break the rackets,” he said.
In the last six months, the URA said it had conducted several interceptions and recovered smuggled goods via the consolidation centre in Kisaasi, a suburb, north east of Kampala.
Lear More
Police dismantle tobacco smuggling gang, seize 1.2m cigarettes.
The Portuguese police said they have arrested the leader of a tobacco smuggling gang and seized 1.2 million cigarettes in Porto and Aveiro, both in the north of Portugal.
The leader of the gang has been charged with criminal association and qualified tobacco smuggling.
On Thursday the police seized 130,000 cigarettes and 226 kg of tobacco plus two vehicles. Most of the tobacco has hidden in false compartments in the vehicles that had been specially made to hide the contraband.
The police also said that a total of 10 individuals and two companies had been charged in connection with the smuggling.
Lear More