Peggy E Chaudhry (ed), Edward Elgar Publishing, 2017 hb
The increased ease with which international trade and commerce occurs across the globe brings with it not only the ability to reach new audiences and markets for goods and services but also the ever-present threat of counterfeiting and illicit trade.
This is a comprehensive and well researched handbook that calls upon experts from industry, law enforcement, the legal community and the private sector (to name a few) to provide working insight into diverse topics covering such things as money laundering and terrorist financing, music piracy and pharmaceuticals.
Divided into five sections, the first part deals with trends and global enforcement issues in relation to illicit trade. Part II details the United States, Mexico and China’s initiatives in stemming illicit trade, which makes for an interesting comparative study highlighting the complexities of regulation and enforcement. The focus shifts in Part III to counterfeit pharmaceuticals, luxury goods and the tobacco sector while Part IV deals exclusively with the internet, including an extensive chapter on social media and intellectual property rights that came out of the 2015 United Kingdom’s Intellectual Property Office research into social media platforms and IP infringement. Case studies and industry examples are peppered throughout the handbook, which serves to highlight the enormity and complexity of the issue of curtailing illicit practices on a global level.
The final part of the handbook provides an overview of managerial and consumer perceptions around the various anti-counterfeiting tactics deployed in the international business space and offers real insight into the impacts on consumers of illicit trading. These are supplemented by recommendations that could offer tangible benefits to consumers and business and deal crippling blows to the counterfeiting and illicit trade industry.
This book is essential reading for those interested in the impact of counterfeiting and illicit trade on international business.
Originally published in Law Institute of Victoria Journal ‘in_print’, 2nd July 2008.
Samaya Argüello 