Aktion Plagiarius e.V. has been awarding the Schmäh Prize to manufacturers and retailers of particularly brazen counterfeits and fakes since 1977. The aim is to raise public awareness of the clumsy and unscrupulous business practices of product and brand pirates and to sensitize industry, politics and consumers to the problem. At the same time, the association emphasizes the importance and effectiveness of industrial property rights. From a total of 37 entries, the jury awarded three main prizes, one special prize and six equally prestigious awards.

According to the campaign, the 'Plagiarius' award should say nothing about whether a counterfeit product is permitted or illegal in the legal sense. The Plagiarius campaign does not want to pronounce justice, but to draw attention to injustice. Before the annually changing jury selects the winners, the alleged plagiarists are informed of their nomination and given the opportunity to comment. In addition to case-related information, these reactions, if any, are included in the assessment. The jury is not interested in branding legal competitor products that are visually and technically unique. Rather, the intention is to focus on clumsy 1:1 imitations that deliberately look confusingly similar to the original product and have no creative or constructive merit of their own. Fortunately, numerous imitators have already sought an agreement with the original manufacturer for fear of being awarded the 'Plagiarius' and have, for example, withdrawn remaining stocks of the counterfeit products from the market, signed cease-and-desist declarations or disclosed suppliers.

In its exhibition, the Museum Plagiarius in Solingen is showing over 350 Plagiarius award winners from a wide range of industries - with a direct comparison of the original and the plagiarized product. Also on display: typical counterfeit brands confiscated by customs.

European customs figures

According to the European Commission, in 2017 alone, European customs authorities seized more than 31 million infringing products with a total value of over 580 million euros at the EU's external borders - and that is just the tip of the iceberg. The fact that the proportion of counterfeit, potentially dangerous goods is increasing is alarming. Customs and Interpol have already withdrawn the following products from circulation in recent years: Contaminated perfumes and cosmetics, technical products with faulty electronics, adulterated food, faulty or contaminant-rich children's toys, incorrectly dosed or not dosed at all medicines.

China as the main country of origin of counterfeits

According to the Plagiarius campaign, customs statistics clearly show that China is still by far the main country of origin of counterfeit goods. Against this backdrop, politicians from all industrialized nations discuss the problems of Western companies with regard to product piracy and unfair market access barriers at every meeting with Chinese government representatives.

At the same time, however, China has been vigorously pursuing its ambitious ten-year plan "Made in China 2025" for years, investing billions in the process: The country wants to catch up with the technologically leading industrialized countries. It wants to move away from being the West's extended workbench and become a serious competitor on the global markets. China's strategy also includes the targeted takeover of Western companies that occupy key future-oriented technologies. Western governments and companies are slowly realizing the danger that this development poses to their own competitiveness on the global markets and are beginning to take countermeasures.

Imitations also from industrialized countries

According to the Plagiarius campaign, customs statistics only take into account goods that should be imported into the respective territory from third countries (such as the EU or USA); they do not record infringements within this region. The fact is, however, that unfair imitations are often also produced, distributed or even commissioned in industrialized countries. Often by competitors with few ideas or former production or distribution partners. Competitors very specifically check the existence of industrial property rights. According to the campaign, if none have been registered, they throw their sense of entitlement and scruples overboard and pass off third-party design and technology solutions as their own work. This is confirmed by the experience of both the Plagiarius campaign and the VDMA industry association. In the latest VDMA product piracy report, China was clearly the No. 1 country of origin for counterfeit products. Nevertheless, Germany once again followed in second place with 19% and Italy in third place with 18%.