Seizures and discoveries include 20 tons of counterfeit clothing being impounded by German authorities acting on tip-offs from EBay… Fake clothing and luxury goods were also seized in a number of raids on flea markets in the US… Tens of thousands of pirated DVDs and VCDs were seized in India, Malaysia and Thailand… A huge seizure of millions of counterfeit cigarettes took place in Canada… In Ireland, analysis of seized counterfeit cigarettes found they contained dangerous levels of poisons, including arsenic.

Cases and outcomes include in the US, a man being sentenced to more than three years imprisonment prison for selling approximately $1 million worth of counterfeit electronics components over the internet… In a similar case a man in the US has pleaded guilty to importing more than $2 million worth of assorted counterfeit goods and selling them on EBay… In Germany, EBay itself won a court case brought by Rolex group for sales of counterfeit watches on the site… In Singapore, a movie piracy syndicate has been broken up with charges brought against 28 people.

Studies and reports out include a survey done in Hong Kong that revealed people below the age of 30 are more prone to ignore intellectual property rights, but also showed more people than ever are aware of the importance of protecting IP… A report showed that in Switzerland during 2008, officials seized $12 million worth of counterfeit goods.