The counterfeiting of Made in Italy products prevents 36 billion euros from reaching Italian businesses every year. According to the OECD, the economic harm caused by items that breach intellectual property rights amounts to 3.6% of Italian firms' sales both in Italy and abroad. The OECD has also tried to figure out where the fake goods that are sold in Italy come from. Estimates place China and Hong Kong as the primary sources for counterfeit products. However, among the nearest nations, Turkey is the principal avenue via which counterfeit products enter Italy. As genuine businesses see their revenues drop, the demand for workers goes down. Because of the import of fake and stolen goods, Italy lost more than 31,000 jobs in the wholesale and retail trade in just one year. This is more than 1.7% of the jobs in this sector. The overall number of employments lost in Italian enterprises because of worldwide trademark infringement exceeds 57,000, accounting for 2.3% of all industrial employees in Italy.
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