Seizures and discoveries last week include one at a flea market in the US that yielded counterfeit goods worth over $100,000… In Canada, RCMP officers have seized hundreds of thousands of counterfeit goods and arrested four men following an eight-month investigation… In Hong Kong, a number of operations have taken place seizing 300,000 pornographic or pirated optical discs, 60,000 counterfeit medicines and 72,000 fake watches.

Cases and outcomes last week include a ruling in France by the Paris Court of Appeal that auction site eBay should stop selling all LVMH-owned beauty products; this follows a fine the site recently received for allowing counterfeit products to be sold on the site... Conversely, eBay in the US has won a four-year legal battle with Tiffany over similar claims that fake Tiffany luxury goods were available on the auction site… In the US, a Jordanian national was sentenced to four years in prison for trafficking thousands of counterfeit Viagra pills imported from Egypt.

Policy developments last week include the Italian government abolishing the Office of the High Commissioner to combat counterfeiting and piracy as part of cost-cutting measures… In India, the government gave its approval to amend the Drugs and Cosmetics Amendment Bill 2005; the bill will give harsher punishments to persons involved in the manufacture and sale of counterfeit medicines.

Studies and reports out last week include one by the International Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Group (IPMG); it estimates that 40 percent of drugs in Indonesia may be counterfeit.