Seen and heard: counterfeiting news in brief

Liverpool FC to sell cut-price shirts in China – and undercut fakers

Liverpool FC shirts cost around £50 in the UK, but will be made available in China for just £23 in an attempt to stop counterfeit shirts cutting into revenues, reports the Financial Times. The cheaper kit will not be made by official kit supplier New Balance, and will be made of budget materials, according to the club, which added that it "does not condone counterfeit goods and hopes fans will chose an official product rather than a copy." China is seen as a growth market for sporting clubs trying to sell merchandise, but many have struggled to make sales in the face of rampant copying of official strips.

Fake 'kosher' cheddar cheese sent to Jewish summer camps

The Canadian authorities have filed criminal charges Creation Foods and vice-president Kefir Sadiklar of selling cheddar cheese falsely labelled as 'kosher' to Jewish summer camps, in another example of the many ways fraud can be perpetrated in the food industry. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency claims the company forged documents were created to make it seem like the cheese adhered to Jewish dietary laws, according to an article on TheStar.com.

Philips acts to protect Sonicare toothbrushes from counterfeiting

Electronics giant Philips has filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the District of Utah, Northern Division, claiming that Utah resident Matthew Preece infringed its trademarks by selling counterfeit copies of its Sonicare electric toothbrush products using the "confusingly similar" Sonishare trademark, reports WIPR. Philips is seeking a permanent injunction, an order prohibiting registration of the Sonishare mark, triple profits and a jury trial.

Kiwi producer Zespri's China push held back by fake fruit

New Zealand kiwifruit producer Zespri Group is seeing big gains from an expansion of its operations in China, but progress is being held back by counterfeiters selling domestically-grown fruit with fake Zespri labels, says an NBR article. The company also suspects that there have been some thefts of its plants by growers in China seeking to capitalise on the premium image of its brand. China contributed $300m of the company's $1.9bn in revenue in 2016, a 60 per cent increase on the prior year.

Ugandan government investigates fake pesticide claims

Farmers in Uganda have said they suspect two brands of pesticides used to prevent armyworm ravaging maize crops – Bukoola industries' Striker and Rocket – are proving to be ineffective in some cases and may be counterfeit, reports NewVision.co.ug. The country's Ministry of Agriculture insists however that its testing suggests the pesticides are authentic. An outbreak of armyworm resistant to common chemicals has been wreaking havoc with maize crops in the last 12 months, leading to high demand for the two brands that some farmers claim has attracted the attention of counterfeiters.