To mount a vigorous and long-term fight against counterfeiting and piracy through awareness-building and enhanced coordination and cooperation between the private and the public sector as well as within those sectors.
Whether fine art, hand-made items, or brand-name articles: Whoever creates products that are a cut above has, since time immemorial, been the target of plagiarizers or unauthorized users. The phenomenon of counterfeiting and piracy has taken on an unsettling mass worldwide in the meantime.
Swiss businesses are increasingly the victims of copying, in particular on the European and Asian markets. Basically, no industry sector is spared: watches, software, music, film, medicines, foodstuffs, and even machines - are all counterfeited. The consequences for business and society are horrific.
According to the prognosis of international expert organizations, counterfeiting and piracy will continue to grow in the next years. To fight this trend, the Federal Institute of Intellectual Property combined forces with the ICC Switzerland (Swiss National Committee of the International Chamber of Commerce) to create the Swiss Anti-Counterfeiting and Piracy Platform in July 2005. A variety of activities, such as promoting cooperation between business and federal agencies and educating the public, should serve to fight the problem in a sustainable way.
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