WASHINGTON: Indian capital’s famous Nehru Place market has been placed among the top 30 notorious IT markets of the world that deal in goods and services infringing on intellectual property rights, an official US report has said.
“Nehru Place is reportedly one of the many markets in major cities throughout India that are known for dealing in large volumes of pirated software, pirated optical media containing movies and music, and counterfeit goods,” said the report released by the US Trade Representatives (USTR).
Among other internet and physical markets that exemplify marketplaces that deal in infringing goods and services, facilitating and sustaining global piracy and counterfeiting include Urdu Bazaars in Karachi and Lahore.
However, China has the largest number of notorious markets listed in the report.
Prominent among them are Buynow PC Malls, which operates 22 stores across China and is known for selling computers with illegal operating system software and other unlawfully pre-installed software; Fu’an footwear and accessory market in Putian, Luohu Commercial Center in Shenzhen; Silk market in Beijing; and small commodities markets in Yiwu.
“Piracy and counterfeiting, including online sales of pirated and counterfeit goods, is a problem that hurts the US economy, harms some of this nation’s most creative and innovative entrepreneurs and companies and threatens jobs for significant numbers of middle-class American workers,” USTR Ron Kirk said.
“We highlight the notorious markets that have a negative impact on legitimate businesses and industries of all sizes that rely on intellectual property to protect their goods and services,” he said.
Kirk also applaud the actions that some markets have taken to begin ridding their virtual and physical marketplaces of pirated and counterfeit goods, as well as enforcement actions taken by certain governments that have resulted in the shutdown of several other markets.
“It is through both voluntary and government actions that we will continue to improve the landscape for IPR owners and companies and their workers here at home that rely on IPR protection,” he said.
USTR said Chinese site Taobao, has worked with rights holders to significantly decrease the listing of infringing products for sale through its website, and has committed to continue working to streamline its complaint procedures to further reduce listings of counterfeit products.
Similarly, Chinese website Sogou has been removed from the current list based on reports that it has also made notable efforts to work with rights holders to address the availability of infringing content on its site.
In addition, the Philippine Government has taken significant enforcement actions at the Quiapo Shopping District, which has reduced the number of counterfeit and pirated goods available for sale in this marketplace.
USTR has been identifying notorious markets since 2006. -PTI
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