According to the available data, the damage caused by counterfeiting in the German mechanical engineering sector has fallen in recent years. Slightly fewer companies are affected - but the number of unreported cases and the unreported loss of sales could be higher.

Most counterfeits come from China

The known total has fallen from 7.6 billion euros in 2020 to 6.4 billion euros, the industry association VDMA reported on Tuesday (May 31) at the Hannover Messe. The analysis, which is carried out every two years, also shows that the volume of product and brand piracy - which averaged over 7 billion euros between 2010 and 2020 - has decreased.

The companies surveyed continued to attribute by far the most counterfeiting to China, according to 87% of those surveyed. "This is hardly surprising, China is unfortunately a loyal companion," said Ferdinand Jarisch from the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied and Integrated Security, which conducted the study. It is worth noting, however, that India was named second most frequently (26%).

The problem of data theft and insider knowledge

Reports of cases of plagiarism of domestic origin followed in third place (19%). Jarisch suspected the causes of German counterfeiting of German machines and systems to be the lack of a language barrier or the possibility of relatively easy data theft: "Data is sometimes simply transported on a USB stick when someone changes companies." In addition to insiders and competitors, clients and suppliers could also be sources of plagiarism. "Unfair copying" is particularly common.

According to the feedback, 72% of the participating companies recently had problems with plagiarism, compared to 74% in last year's survey. However, the sample of 68 companies is small - VDMA security expert Steffen Zimmermann attributed this to possible factors such as shame or other business priorities. The potential number of all counterfeiting cases could well be higher. In addition, technical counterfeiting is often a considerable safety risk for employees or the environment if it is not purely a matter of design issues or trademark rights, but the operation of complicated or sensitive systems.

More frequent measures taken against counterfeiters

"Product piracy hits smaller companies particularly hard," said Jarisch. It is noticeable that they take action against it less frequently, partly because the costs involved can be high. Overall, however, measures against counterfeiting are being taken more often, according to Zimmermann: in two thirds of cases, the discovery does not remain without consequences, two years ago it was a good half. In China, counterfeiters can also be sued - but the outcome is sometimes open: "If you catch one, there is no guarantee that you will get justice."