Law360, New York (April 18, 2016, 7:09 PM EDT) -- The value of imported counterfeit and pirated goods

has topped $460 billion according to a report released Monday by the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development and the European Unions Intellectual Property Office.
Knock-off products, including handbags, watches, perfume, machine parts, chemicals and medicine,
accounted for $461 billion of the $17.9 trillion worth of goods imported globally in 2013, the report said.
Shoes are the most-copied item worldwide, according to the study.

The OECD said the fakes, which primarily originated in China and other emerging countries, not only had
an outsized impact on brands from the U.S., Italy, France and Switzerland, but also cut into the profits of
some of Chinas most innovative companies.

The findings of this new report contradict the image that counterfeiters only hurt big companies and
luxury goods manufacturers. They take advantage of our trust in trademarks and brand names to
undermine economies and endanger lives, OECD deputy secretary-general Doug Frantz said in a
statement.

The OECD said U.S. brands and patents were impacted by 20 percent of the goods, while 15 percent
affected Italian companies, 12 perfect hurt French businesses and another 12 percent stole profits from
Switzerland. Japan and Germany each felt the effects of 8 percent of the pirated goods on their
intellectual property, according to the report.

The study, which builds on a smaller OECD report from 2008, draws on data from about 500,000
customs seizures that took place between 2011 and 2013. The report does not cover online piracy,
which the OECD said is also a significant drain on international trade.

The OECD said its findings demonstrate that the global trade of pirated goods is frequently linked to
organized crime.

According to the report, up to 5 percent of goods imported by the E.U. are knock-offs. The pirated
products accounted for roughly 2.5 percent of imports worldwide, the OECD said. The organization
called for tougher regulations and increased international cooperation to help stem the tide of
counterfeit products.

The OECD named Afghanistan, Syria, Hong Kong, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates free trade
zone as major transit points for the counterfeit goods but said the trade routes vary over time as
traffickers work to elude officials.

The top method for shipping the products was via parcel post, which accounted for 62 percent of the
seizures between 2011 and 2013, according to the report.