There is an old adage: anything that can be made, can be faked. According to new data from OECD and the EU’s Intellectual Property Office, those fakes are quite a lucrative industry for the enterprising counterfeiter, with a total annual value of nearly half a trillion a year.
Yes, that is trillion with a “T.”
The hardest hit brands originate in the U.S. and EU, particularly France and Italy, and the biggest winners are organized crime.