ABSTRACT
A trademark usually is a name and/or logo, whereas the trade dress refers to the visual appearance. Most work on trademark infringement is from the legal perspective. Counterfeiting refers to a “direct” copy. When a counterfeited brand is sold at a fraction of the usual selling price, it is said to be a signal to the consumer that the good is counterfeit. Imitators are far more difficult to deal with because their goods are not identical, only similar in substance, name, shape, and color to an acknowledged and widely known product or service in the marketplace. Consumers understand that brands make their life easier by reducing the risk of inferior or poor quality goods. The destruction of brand equity is somewhat different from the destruction of the language of brands.
