The size of global market for imitation products has reached $600 - 650 billion annually (MEMA Brand Protection Council 2010), thus posing a tremendous challenge to manufacturers and retailers of original brands (OEMs). Imitations are abundant in luxury goods (e.g., knockoff Louis Vuitton handbags and accessories, replica Rolex watches), consumer electronics (e.g., imitation Nokia cell phones), and more dangerously, in pharmaceutical products (e.g., fake Johnson & Johnson diabetes tests). Not only do the imitation brands deteriorate consumer beliefs and favorability toward the original brands (Keller 2008), they also eat up the revenue of the original brands and take away 2.5 million jobs in G20 economies every year (U.S. Chamber of Commerce 2011).
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