According to Deco Algarve, counterfeiting is one of the most frequent activities of disrespect for industrial property and consists of using in its creation the total or partial reproduction of another creation.

Counterfeiting is a crime and either manufacturing or the sale of these imitations are punishable.

Sometimes is quite easy to detect fake products. We all have seen products that we immediately realise as not being original. However, at other times the copy is so faithful to the original that it is not easily understood whether or not it is a counterfeit product.

One way to detect fake products is by price: counterfeit products are often much cheaper than the original. Perhaps you’re wondering: What will be the problem of counterfeiting, if we pay less for a product that is almost the same as a much more expensive one?

Deco answers: Firstly, imitations are generally lower quality products, it could break down more quickly or maybe it will not work as well as the original, and turn out to be a bad deal. Remember that counterfeit products, because they are illegal, are not subject to control by specialised entities, which means that they may have defects that endanger your safety and health.

Regarding this, DECO Association promotes the ‘Brain Ideas 2.0’ project, with the support of #EUIPO to raise awareness of the issue and how to recognise the value and respect intellectual property as a tool to protect creativity and innovation. Protecting our own work and respecting the intellectual work of others is more and more important in everyone’s professional and private life, so DECO invites everyone to visit its website at: http://decojovem.pt/brainideas and learn about activities that are taking place.