Seizures and discoveries last week include one by Nigeria’s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) that impounded 120 containers full of fake and expired pharmaceuticals from importers… Similarly, in the UK, enforcement officers from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) seized 120,000 counterfeit tablets of assorted medicines… Authorities in Thailand have uncovered more than 90,000 counterfeit designer T-shirts… Customs officials in the UK have seized 9 million fake cigarettes… Large seizures of pirated DVDs took place in India and the US.

Cases and outcomes last week include online auctioneer eBay winning a Belgian court case brought by L’Oreal regarding counterfeit products being sold; the judge ruled that eBay did not have "a general monitoring obligation" of what was on offer on its site… The president of a pharmaceutical company in the US has pleaded guilty to the introduction of adulterated and unapproved new drugs, among other things; he is expected to serve two years in jail… A Chinese man in the UK has been sentenced to three years imprisonment for masterminding a £1 million fake trainer racket… Also in the UK, a software pirate has been ordered to pay Symantec £700,000 in damages and costs.

Policy developments last week include the UK government and Intellectual Property Office (UK-IPO) consulting on plans that would increase the maximum fine Magistrates' Court’s can award for online copyright infringement from £5,000 to £50,000. The larger fine is proposed for commercial scale infringements, where the person involved profits from the infringement.