Viagra most counterfeited brand: Report

Sexual power stimulant drug Viagra has topped the list of most counterfeited brand during 2011, according to a report of an international body.

Sildenafil citrate, which is also sold as Viagra, is among the top 15 counterfeited brands in terms of seized quantity followed by sports gear brand Nike and cigarette brand Marlboro, the annual report of the World Customs Organisation, an independent intergovernmental global organisation based in Brussels, says.

About 22.2 million pieces (2.24 crore) were reported to be found in 2011. The remaining brands were Nike with 5.8 million pieces (58 lakh), Marlboro, stationery brand BIC, Nesmark contraceptive products with 3.2 million pieces each (about 32 lakh each), it said.

The report, which was released last month, was prepared on the basis of inputs of 68 member nations of the World Customs Organisation.

"The United States is the country that reported the most cases in 2011 (9,761 cases). This is followed by Germany, France, Saudi Arabia and Japan," it said.

Italy reported the largest quantity of items (in pieces: 39.2 million or 3.9 crore of aggregate quantity), followed by Bulgaria (20.6 million or 2.6 crore), the United States (18.7 million or 1.87 crore), Saudi Arabia (18.3 million or 1.83 crore) and France (6.7 million or 67 lakh), it said.

Other brands like Duracell with seizures of 18 lakh pieces, Nokia (16 lakh), Gillette (9.55 lakh) and Benson & Hedges (8.03 lakh) were also among the list.  In 2011, WCO members reported nearly 980 brands having been counterfeited, although information on brand is either not available or not applicable in approximately 37 per cent or 7,836 cases, the report said.

In terms of number of cases, Apple (mainly in mobile phones and accessories as well as computers and accessories) is reported as most frequently counterfeited (685 cases, 3.6 per cent), followed by MAC (540 cases, 2.8 per cent in cosmetics) and Viagra (532 cases, 2.8 per cent, drug for the treatment of erectile dysfunction), Power Balance (447 cases, 2.3 per cent in accessories), and Louis Vuitton (409 cases, 2.1 per cent mainly in accessories), it said.

The report deals with the changing nature of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) infringements. "Whether it be the nature of the  counterfeit goods or the routes they take, international fraud networks are still quick to react to new market conditions and the opportunities they present," the report added.