Video - How to Tell a Real Golf Ball from a Fake

Courtesy of the Boston Globe, a video and accompanying article that neatly encapsulates the problems of fake golf equipment. Globe reporter Jenn Abelson looks at the counterfeiting issue through the prism of Acushnet, the Massachusetts-based manufacturer of Titleist golf balls and equipment. Acushnet spends more than $2 million per year on an enforcement division that expends considerable time and resources in China investigating golf equipment counterfeiters.

The article explores the difficulty in enforcing rights in China, where counterfeiting operations often only temporarily close down. And those are the good outcomes - prosecutors often decline to prosecute, and factories are often tipped off before raids and investigators approach.

In addition, the article mentions the accelerating trend of using online marketplaces to ship counterfeit goods into the United States, bypassing customs and inspections. The risk of obtaining a counterfeit in such a transaction is still either discounted or not perceived yet by the consumer.

To me, the most interesting part of the article was the trend in some Asian markets to sell fakes alongside genuine golf equipment, showing the price differential between the two. If brands are the hallmark of quality, why would a consumer pay any value for a fake Titleist rather than a no-name brand?

And check out the video for a quick guide on how to tell a real Titleist V1 golf ball from a fake. Like a great smile, it's in the dimples.

Gold Medal Counterfeiters

Even with increased law enforcement, knock-off shops flourish at the Beijing Olympics.

UPDATE: Counterfeiting the Nazi Olympics.

Counterfeit Olympics

The Olympics Ceremonies have shined a media spotlight on China, and this Sky News piece illustrates the counterfeiting occurring on the streets of Beijing.

The article illustrates two main points - first, that the Chinese government treats its own intellectual property (the Olympic mascots) with greater care than other countries' intellectual property, levying stiff fines and jail sentences for violators of its own IP while mostly turning a blind eye towards other infringement. And second, that these harsher penalties barely make a dent in the trade of counterfeit goods, with Beijing street vendors openly selling fake Olympic wares.

The irony is that through routine lax intellectual property enforcement, the Chinese government has created an environment where its own intellectual property is routinely violated.

Cleaning Up for the Big Show

From Industry Week, an article about Beijing's efforts to clean up counterfeiting before hosting this year's Summer Olympics. Essentially, the article implies that the Chinese Government's desire not to be embarrassed on the world stage by dodgy counterfeit operations exceeds the power of local muckety-mucks to bribe their way into lax enforcement on the local level. The implication, of course, is that the Chinese government can do more in normal times to stop counterfeiting.

Counterfeit Triangle?

The triangle region overlapping the South American countries of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay is known for its unbridled capitalism, unlawfulness, and even more alarmingly, its rumored harboring of suspected terrorists. And with criminal activities afoot, counterfeiting is not usually far behind. Writing on Gadling.com, Jeremy Kressman describes this triangle as a “A vast bazaar of illegal weapons, counterfeit goods and illicit substances,” while IP Tango deduces the difficulty for IP owners to enforce their rights when law enforcement is weak in any particular area.

Check out both articles for a look at how criminal counterfeiters fill the void left by weak governments and lack of rule of law.