Hilary Muza 
THE rapid growth of capitalism through gigantic manufacturing industries as well as the miracle of the electronic age makes the fight against patent and trademark protection a near futile game.
The appetite for affordable goods by consumers, the need for consumers to get protection against fake products, as well as the need by innovators to benefit from their ideas bring a contrasting but interesting view to the whole subject of intellectual property rights.
In the international forum, the discourse on the subject has tended to question the ability of both international and domestic law to curb the worrying and escalating violation of intellectual property rights.
Those who are prone to predicting argue that capitalism within the next few decades will reach its saturation point, and it might resultantly be impossible to pass any laws that might bring an effective end to theft of patent, trademark or copyrights. The Internet has compounded the problem, as some gangsters and industrial cartels driving the fake products market remain nameless and faceless, making the business of catching them a none starter.
There is no discussion on counterfeit products that can meaningfully be done without mentioning China, a country that has over the years gained a notoriety for dishing out all manner of fake products, and both the developed and third world have been recipients of this country’s fake merchandise.
Gucci, Georgio Armani, Hilfiger, expensive wines, alcohol, cigarettes, cell phones, computers, vehicle spare parts, and in fact anything capable of being made have been plagiarised and sold from China and those responsible for the mischief have racked in billions of dollars, to the detriment of the brand owners.
Musicians and film makers have been hit hard by piracy and those who have been slow to find ways of conquering the black-market have failed to survive.
Gone are the days when musicians and film makers used to make money through selling CDs or albums because the electronic age has made reproducing the staff for either domestic or commercial purposes easy. Hence live musical shows where ticket sales may guarantee revenue are the only means by which artists may now earn a living.
Time may have come for those who have been thriving on the fake products market to pay the price because international brand owners have ganged up against China and are putting immense pressure on it to put a stop to all forms of piracy.
Indeed, those who have travelled to China recently talk of massive operations in that country to seize all counterfeit products from anyone found in their possession. Those who have been unlucky have lost valuable life savings after losing goods destined for resale locally.
Closer to home, South Africa has been roped in and its customs service is intercepting any merchandise in transit from anywhere in the world for as long as it is fake. Containers of cell phones and their accessories, clothing, vehicle spare parts and all manner of goods have been impounded and destroyed leaving local victims in misery.
Getting legal recourse has not been easy for once found in possession of counterfeit goods; the South African law affords no protection to offenders. Those who have got wind of the exercise are rerouting their cargo through Kenya, a country that has not yet joined the international anti-piracy club.
Counterfeiting or piracy has been labelled the cancer of the century, and despite the existence of a plethora of international, regional and domestic legal instruments to curb the practice, very little has been archived.
Locally, while our manufacturing suffers, those importing cheap Chinese products have been smiling all the way to the bank.
It appears though that very little can be done, because ours is an economy that cannot meet the demand of local consumers on many products that matter.
We remain at the mercy of those cartels importing pirated products. The goods come cheaply, but most have no sound back up service and are not durable and barely last their expected lifetime.
History has taught that the law does not always provide protection wherever it may be expected to offer such protection, and with regard to the growing threat of fake merchandise those who bring about any form of innovation must begin to devise other means of protecting their rights.
For without that, they might end up creating ideas only for intellectual property thieves to benefit.
Muza is a Harare-based legal practitioner. He writes in his personal capacity.
