Labour MP for Wolverhampton North East, Emma Reynolds, has called on the government to do more to ensure that intellectual property rights are protected.A successful company in Wolverhampton, Wow! Stuff, has suffered from intellectual property theft on a repeated basis.

Emma has written to the Business Minister in charge of intellectual property rights to ask what more the government can do to bear down on fake and counterfeit toys.

In her letter, Emma sets out:

“A company in my constituency, Wow! Stuff, has on numerous occasions launched products which have then been copied by foreign manufacturers and sold as counterfeits both here in the UK and elsewhere. In one instance, they estimate that almost two million counterfeit copies of its Air Swimmers toys have been sold worldwide.”

 “Fakes can be difficult to identify, and when they are spotted, expensive lawsuits can last months before counterfeiters are brought to justice. Those affected lose millions in potential revenue and sometimes they also lose the motivation to invest further in innovation.”

“I am concerned that not enough is being done to stop these counterfeits being sold in the UK. The main source of origin of counterfeit toys in 2010 was China, followed by Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates.”

“Counterfeit manufacturers incur no product development costs and can therefore undercut the companies selling the original product, such as the company in my constituency.”

“The current system does not seem to be fit for purpose with companies, like Wow! Stuff, having their intellectual property stolen on a regular basis and being severely disadvantaged financially as a result. They are currently in legal process against more than 10 companies in Europe including several major retailers. This process has taken nearly 2 years. Whilst they have won all their cases to date the sheer magnitude of resources, money and length of time required to defend their IP means that they have less money and opportunity to invest in further innovation.”

September 2013