Seizures and discoveries last week include a shipment of more than 2 million counterfeit pills impounded by customs officers in Belgium, bound for West Africa… Thousands of pairs of fake trainers and other assorted counterfeit goods were seized during a raid in the US… Fake clothes and jewellery worth more than £40,000 were seized in multiple raids on a market place in the UK.

Cases and outcomes last week include a Chinese woman being sentenced to death in Vietnam for heading a major counterfeiting currency ring… A man in the US has been given three years probation for helping to run a server that illegally shared computer programs over the internet.

Policy developments last week include in the US, a court deciding to allow US customs to impose civil penalties on those who import merchandise bearing a counterfeit mark of a registered trademark even if the owner of the registered mark does not manufacture or sell the same type of merchandise imported.

Studies and reports out last week include one by the Alliance of Gray Market and Counterfeit Abatement that estimated counterfeiting costs the IT industry $100 billion in lost sales annually. A new study by the Harrison Group and commission by Microsoft found that companies with more counterfeit software on their networks had a greater risk of encountering IT problems.