News

The EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the OECD just dropped a bombshell report: Mapping Global Trade in Fakes 2025. The TL;DR? Counterfeiting is booming, and it’s a global problem. While international trade has made life faster, cheaper, and more connected, it’s also handed counterfeiters the perfect playground. The result? USD 467 billion worth of fake goods traded worldwide in 2021—and the EU alone saw USD 117 billion of that!

The latest EUIPO design reforms bring not only procedural clarity but also new tools for asserting your rights — starting with a brand-new registration symbol and updated rules for invalidity.

In early May 2025, EUIPO (the European Union Intellectual Property Office) has updated the rules for registering designs. These changes aim to make it easier for designers and companies to protect their work by through simple digital tools reflective of the current online world standard. Let’s take a closer look at what’s new—and what stays the same.

China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has boosted global trade—but it’s also being misused. A new OECD–EUIPO report reveals how counterfeiters are exploiting new infrastructure to move fake goods more efficiently. Here’s what businesses and regulators need to know.