Toys

Toys also belong to the products that are very often subject matter of counterfeiting. In a consumer society that we live in, children are easy targets for manufacturers of counterfeit toys.
Some of the popular toys are being counterfeited entirely, but it happens more often that protected trademarks are being misused (counterfeited) in order to mark counterfeit toys that are not produced or authorized by a trademark holder in a licence agreement at all. Such products are often copied and sold under a trademark very similar to the original one (e.g. by replacing one letter only, a part of a drawing or the main character).
Apart from incurring damage to the manufacturer or the trademark holder of a genuine product by such counterfeiting, the use of counterfeit toys poses a substantial health risk. The toy industry stipulates high standards of quality and safety and their observance is subject to an arranged control system. As opposed hereto, considering the fact that there is no control when manufacturing and placing counterfeit products on the market, it is not only the quality of products that is questionable, but also their safety as to the children’s health and lives.
It is often that forbidden raw material is used in the production of counterfeit toys, such as azo- dyestuffs, phthalates and other hazardous chemicals proven to be harmful to human health, and used by counterfeiters because of their significantly lower prices and broad availability on the markets producing counterfeits.
Based on the public studies conducted, it is estimated for counterfeits to account for 12 percent of the total toy market in Europe. The main countries producing counterfeit toys are China and Turkey.