[SolarCross]

I guess because it is technically a fraud perpetrated both against the original manufacturer and the buyer. It does not take a lot of IQ to see a technical wrongdoing and persecute it, whereas it takes an extra step of thinking to selectively let pass some frauds like those in the OP because they are basically harmless. Most authorities are pretty dumb.

It's like having a law "don't litter" and then someone drops a completely biodegradable banana peel into the hedge row, a smart authority would turn a blind eye to this while a retard authority would treat it literally as "littering" and start pushing fines and what not.

[Truth To Power]

I can understand why they chase fake medicines for obvious reasons. But if I wear a fake Omega watch, it is nobody's fucking business.

The problem is similar to the fake medicine problem, just not as serious. Trademark protection is mainly for the consumer's benefit, not the producer's: it certifies the source of the product. You may be happy with your watch, but some people may be fooled. I remember buying a fake Rolex in Bangkok many years ago, and it only worked for a month. I'm not complaining, I knew it was fake, but where do you draw the line? Remember the fake Apple store in Beijing? It looked like an Apple store, and in fact, even the people who were working there thought they were working for Apple and selling real Apple products! (FTR, I oppose patents and copyrights.)

[Godstud]

Good point, @Truth To Power. It's there to protect the consumer, but when the product is being touted as a copy, and the consumer is cognizant of the difference, then the consumer is not being cheated.

Note: The "fake" Omega Skyfall watch my friend bought 4 years ago, is still ticking away.

[ironworker0110]

Because it was always profit driven instinct to invest in products that retain value overtime. Mass produced goods doesn’t retain value overtime.

[ness31]

Remember the fake Apple store in Beijing? It looked like an Apple store, and in fact, even the people who were working there thought they were working for Apple and selling real Apple products!

You’re shitting me? Never heard or read about this story. Not terribly surprised either.

Regarding luxury brands; labels will even destroy their unsold/out of season products to maintain exclusivity.

It’s akin to Intellectual Property in a way, it’s either protected or it isn’t.

[Victoribus Spolia]

Cronyism is the problem here, if their products are worth the price they demand on an open market, then they wouldn't have to rely on the state apparatus to enforce its preservation. Fact is, given the materials and skill involved, replicas and "fakes" (a derogatory and meaningless expression in this context) of the original brand are sufficiently similar in appearance and quality that if they were allowed to sell at that far reduced market price, the market niche for the "name-brands" would be threatened and likely made bankrupt.

Its shit like this that makes both Ancaps and Communists irritated; the use of the state to bully the common-person at the behest of wealthy elites that do not have the means to defend their own interests and products themselves.

[One Degree]

The fake Apple stores aren’t too far removed from our own Verizon stores for example. Verizon refused to honor my contract because it was with a third party contractor and does not obligate them. The third party being a store with a giant Verizon sign selling Verizon products. Lol.

[Rich]

For a society to function well requires not just that the large majority of society basically follow the law, but that they try and act morally above and beyond the requirements of the law. So for example when you return a faulty good and get a refund, you are not merely helping yourself, you are helping your fellow consumer citizens by holding the company to account. Buying goods that you know are grossly over priced when you have a choice, is immoral. You are contributing to the tyranny of the over rated company that sells them.

Knowingly buying illegal fakes of over priced brands is doubly immoral. You are undermining the system of accountability where the brand owner can be held responsible for the products issued under its brand, but you also contributing to the hegemony of the over priced brand. You should be ashamed to be wearing (or getting someone else to wear) a poor value brand. You should proudly wear an alternative brand. By going along sheep like with the herd, you are essentially praising the (naked) Emperor's clothes. In fact the richer, more powerful and more influential you are, the greater the moral onus on you to buy and display good value brands, to use your privilege to aid your fellow citizen consumers by promoting companies that produce good value products and services.

[blackjack21]

I buy fake luxury watches and clothes and bags to my heart's content on the streets of Bangkok and now also here in Dhaka. I know I am devaluing the value of those original goods but that warms my heart.

The question is : who do I harm by doing this ?

A trademark is intended to expedite consumer choice and represent a certain quality of goods. It takes very little time to make a facsimile of a Rolex, but it takes approximately a year to create an actual Rolex. One intent of counterfeiters is to charge unsuspecting consumers the full retail price of a Rolex, which might run $8k. The resale of the actual Rolex will command a substantial price, but the fake will not. It is in effect fraud.

You are not fooled by the fact that you are wearing a fake, but an unsuspecting consumer may be fooled and bilked out of thousands of dollars for something that is worth a fraction of what they pay.

When I sold my Rolex--I rarely ever wore it--the jeweler examined every detail of the watch to ensure it was not counterfeit. That is because Rolex facsimiles are aesthetically very close to an actual Rolex, but the movement is not even close.

States upholding trademarks are upholding trust in commerce generally. States that do not uphold trademarks are generally not as prosperous as those that do.