Countercheck, the revolutionary way to combat luxury counterfeits

Luxury fashion and beauty brands have always been a target for counterfeiters, and the boom in e- commerce due to the pandemic has created the “perfect storm” for exponential growth. The industry needs to tackle the issue head-on with technology solutions like Countercheck.

Trade in counterfeit goods has risen steadily in the last few years, and a 2019 report from the OECD said that the value of imported fake goods worldwide based on 2016 customs seizure data hit 509 billion US dollars, up from 461 billion US dollars in 2013, and global counterfeiting is a problem that continues to grow.

Counterfeit items cost brands millions a year, feeding other criminal activities. As millions of fake items are shipped around the globe every month and with limited resources at customs, parcels easily avoid detection, it has become a significant problem to enforce. Maintaining tight control of supply chains is crucial and Countercheck’s technology offers brands the opportunity to scale the removal of counterfeit goods from within logistic firms.

Pietro Gagliano, Manager at Countercheck, said: “At Countercheck, we take counterfeit goods out of circulation, as no parcel goes unchecked. Unlike customs which randomly checks and blocks no more than 1 percent of the counterfeit goods coming through, our software intercepts counterfeit parcels, together with international logistics firms, at their point of sortation – automatically – scanning 100% of parcels with our innovative technology.”

Embracing technology to tackle counterfeit goods in supply chains

Research suggests that 65 percent of all luxury counterfeit items are dominated by the fashion and sportswear industry, with the biggest seizures being footwear, clothing, leather goods, watches, cosmetics, and jewellery. These fake products cost brands revenue, as well as damage a brand’s intellectual property and reputation.

Countercheck’s end-to-end robust technology has been designed to revolutionise the counterfeit landscape, as its patent-pending software can be fully integrated into worldwide logistics centers equipped with parcel detection technology.

It requires no investment or additional hardware/labour from the logistic firms. The Countercheck software offers reliable offline technology that can detect counterfeit goods rolling through supply chains with the help of machine learning algorithms and image processing technologies. The ML technology has the potential to scan every parcel for any potential threats and has an outstanding success rate in sniffing out fake items.

Since launching in March 2021, Countercheck’s counterfeit innovative detecting technology has helped world-leading fashion luxury brands block more fake goods than ever before. In one month, the technology identified 2,000 small parcels in only one sortation centre, a figure that the technology firm asserts is doubling every month.

“Countercheck is a solution for offline brand protection, our patent-pending software identifies and sideloads suspicious parcels and offers luxury brands the opportunity to track and trace seized counterfeits with the in-built analytics to put a stop to IP infringed products being delivered,” added Gagliano.

For luxury brands, Countercheck is a time-saving, easy-to-implement and scalable solution to target offline counterfeiting in-line with their brand identity. The software is trained to only “go after the bad guys". Once the fakes have been removed from the supply chain, luxury brands can utilise Countercheck’s extensive intelligence to follow the parcel end-to-end and use the information for enforcement activity with local authorities to shut down global counterfeiters.

Gagliano added: “By identifying and discarding counterfeit goods, Countercheck works with brands to protect their intellectual property within the operational geographical boundaries. Our software gives brands the tool to block counterfeit goods while enabling logistic firms to close the route to market for counterfeit producers.”

Countercheck is the first anti-counterfeit solution that puts technology before policy. Founded by Phil Hamilton and Fatih Unver, Countercheck is backed by Beam and BEUMER Group and is trusted by anti- counterfeiting associations including UNIFAB in France, the ACG in the UK and INDICAM in Italy.

To find out more about how Countercheck can help your brand identify and intercept counterfeits in your supply chain – contact Pietro Gagliano and visit our website www.countercheck.com.