Protection of Industrial Property

The fight against counterfeiting is a key issue for the Altagamma Foundation. Creativity, innovation, and research are the results of the philosophy of excellence adopted by member companies, and underpin the quality of their products and services. These characteristics have shaped the identity of the brand over time. Members acquire their competitive advantage from their brands and the tangible and intangible values attached to them; as such, their brands represent their most important assets. Counterfeiting undermines the strategic basis on which these high-end companies have built their success and, in some cases, represents a threat to their survival. In recent years this problem has escalated to the point that it can only be combated through different approaches and means: political, diplomatic and legal steps. Altagamma Foundation, together with Walpole and Comité Colbert, regularly issues the data it possesses on counterfeiting: these figures are presented to the Italian and European institutions to assist them in combating this phenomenon through political and diplomatic actions. At the end of 2010 the National Anticounterfeiting Council (CNAC) was created within the Ministry of Economic Development to strengthen the Government’s actions in the fight against forgery, including online counterfeiting. The CNAC seeks to play a central part in bringing together and coordinating all groups involved in the fight against counterfeiting, and seeks to carry out a political and strategic role.