Martin Docherty-Hughes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martin Docherty-Hughes on 2016-06-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on steps to prevent consumers purchasing counterfeit electrical goods that are being sold in Scotland.

David Mundell

I have had a range of discussions with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, and Scottish Government ministers.

The UK-wide Intellectual Property Office works with law enforcement and industry partners across Scotland to reduce the availability of all types of counterfeits, including electrical goods.

Recent successful joint-enforcement activity involving the Intellectual Property Office, Trading Standards, and Police Scotland, in the Barras Market area of Glasgow, achieved over £30 million pounds worth of fake goods seized. These items included not only counterfeit electrical goods, but fake eBooks, watches, clothing, footwear, and tobacco products.

The operation saw the arrest of 100 traders, the removal of stalls selling fake goods and the return of legitimate business to the area, and is a superb example of the collective effort of Scotland’s two Governments using our powers and potential in a common endeavour.

The Government does not hold data estimating the number of counterfeit electrical goods that were sold in Scotland during the last 12 months. However, we have recently launched a landmark Intellectual Property enforcement strategy in which we have set out how we will improve our data collection. The Intellectual Property Office are developing a robust methodology for measuring the harm caused by IP infringement and a comprehensive scoreboard to be published annually. This will mean better reporting in the criminal justice system, better reporting of court cases, and a deeper understanding of consumer behaviours and emerging trends.