2016 anti-counterfeit award winners announced

Seven winners have been recognised in this year's Global Anti-Counterfeiting Awards (GAC), which were announced today.

The competition - now in its 18th year -reflects "the continuing development of the campaign to combat the international trade in fakes," said the Global Anti-Counterfeiting Group (GACG), which runs the event.

The list of winners - announced at an event in Paris at the Museé de Contrefaçon housed at the headquarters of the Union des Fabricants (Unifab) - is as follows:

• The individual achievement award went to Lorne Lipkus of lawfirm Kestenberg Siegal Lipkus LLP for his work at the forefront of the Canadian Anti-Counterfeiting Network (CACN) campaign;

• The national public body award went to the enforcement and supervision department of China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection, and Quarantine for various activities including its Sharp Sword operation in 2015;

• The international public body award was given to World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and specifically its 'Building Respect for IP' unit;

• The IP team at luxury leather goods company Longchamp took the company award, for success above the proportionate use of resources available that yielded success in seizures and deterrence;

• The Ukraine Alliance against Counterfeiting and Piracy (UAACP) picked up the association award for "great commitment in the fight against counterfeiting in Ukraine and beyond";

• The technology award was won by Custodian Solutions, which has developed an anti-counterfeiting evidence capture, management and enforcement platform deployed by Unilever;

• The media award went to Kathy Chu of the Wall Street Journal for "clever and courageous articles on the subject of counterfeiting and piracy."

The GACG said that the spread of winners "shows the world-wide importance of working together to build respect for the value of creativity, innovation and enterprise, and to improve best practices for enforcement."