Skip to main content

Counterfeiting cases are rarely contested in court but the law on the legality of parallel imports is ambiguous and hotly contested in India, as Safir Anand reports. 

Counterfeit goods and unauthorised imports can become a nightmare across all industries. The counterfeit market is a fast-growing menace, and with the advent of the internet it is becoming difficult to rein in. The fake luxury goods market, for instance, is estimated to be growing 40 to 45% annually.

The growing market for counterfeits is fed by high consumer demand for easily accessible, cheap branded products. From a consumer’s point of view, what exactly is a counterfeit? A counterfeit is an imitation, usually one that is made with the intent of fraudulently passing it off as genuine.

This article was published in TBO’s Newsletter October 2014.

Most Recent

News & Insights

VIEW ALL
News & Updates, Thought Leadership
•
Oct 09, 2026

For a creator, the product and the person are often indistinguishable. A finance educator’s credibility, a teacher’s cadence, a comedian’s

When Your Persona Becomes Your Business: Personality Rights of Influencers in India
News & Updates, Thought Leadership
•
Oct 06, 2026

A D2C brand can begin with little more than a name, a logo, a product page and an Instagram account. Then something changes. Customers begin recognising

Your Brand is More Than a Name: Brand Protection for D2C Startups in India
News & Updates, Thought Leadership
•
Oct 02, 2026

A traditional craft can travel far beyond the place that gave it its name. The harder question is whether its name, reputation and identity can travel

Who Owns a Tradition: Understanding Geographical Indications Through India’s Artisan Stories
News & Updates, Thought Leadership
•
Sep 29, 2026

A person’s identity was once understood as something inseparable from the person. In the digital economy, it can also become an asset: a name that

Right to Publicity in India: From Celebrity Image to AI-Generated Identity