ABSTRACT

Through an adaptation of a terrorism risk assessment model, this article develops an initial proactive product counterfeiting risk assessment that is designed to focus upon a specific product’s risk for being counterfeited. The goal of developing this risk assessment is to help corporations identify the products that are most at risk for counterfeiting, thereby giving them the ability to focus their resources in the areas where the greatest opportunities for crime are present. This risk assessment is intended to serve as the first line of defence in a comprehensive and proactive brand owner strategy centred on identifying product-specific counterfeiting risk. The assessment comprises three factors that, together, capture a product’s counterfeiting risk level: the threat of product counterfeiting, the brand owner’s vulnerability to product counterfeiting and the potential consequences of a counterfeit product entering the market and reaching consumers.