Annual IP crime survey reveals top investigated areas
A survey conducted by the Intellectual Property Office (UK IPO) has found that investigations into crime related to vaping products has “increased significantly”.
While clothing and tobacco products remain the most investigated intellectual property (IP) crime sectors, electronic vaping came in third with 44% of authorities stating they had investigated the sector this year, compared to just 16% in 2019/20.
The annual survey investigates Trading Standards Officers’ work on IP crime, inviting insight from local authorities on the scale and scope of the crime in the UK. This year, 75% of local authorities responded to the survey which covered the period of April 2023 to March 2024.
We recently reported on some of the battles at the centre of the vaping sector, which has grown rapidly in popularity in the past decade. However, there has been increased collaboration in the last year between Trading Standards Officers, other law enforcement agencies, and industry partners across the UK to tackle IP crime, with various success stories.
The UK IPO report cited that between April 2023 and March 2024, officers at Salford Trading Standards visited 23 premises discovering 8,440 counterfeit items. Of these, 5,220 were vaping products suspected of breaching various confectionary related registered trade marks.
Counterfeit and illicit vaping products have been an emerging issue in Salford. In total, officers have seized nearly 115,000, with many breaching intellectual property laws. These efforts led by the Trading Standards demonstrate a commitment to protect both the public and businesses from IP violations.
Other questions in the survey related to the types of locations that have been investigated for counterfeit/pirated goods and design infringing, and the links between counterfeit goods and other criminal activities.
Read the full Trading Standards IP Crime survey and Successes 2023 to 2024 report here.