Branding pays off, says report, but product forgery costs companies dear

According to a research report entitled "Most Trusted Brands 2002" by "Przeglad Reader's Digest" around 94% of customers from 18 countries, including Poland, claim that branded products are better than their non-branded competitors while 76% consider the brand of a product while making a purchase. Despite that, however, imitating a given brand is becoming more and more popular in Poland. The practice of brand forgery has become a problem which branded producers have to take account of when planning their budgets. They are concerned that if courts do not start enforcing regulations on fighting unfair competition, companies will have to reduce employment as well as limit production and investments. LU Polska, a producer of biscuits, has for some time been trying to launch a campaign against dishonest trading. "We estimate that unfair competition of producers imitating our brand has already taken away around 5% of the market," claimed Magdalena Potocka-Rak, the company's spokesperson. (Prawo i Gospodarka, p. 9) A.Z.