The Federation of the European Sporting Goods Industry (Fesi), the European Commission and several rights owners and internet platforms signed a joined memorandum of understanding to cooperate in the fight against online sales of counterfeit products. The MoU follows from a previous version signed in 2011. It was pointed out that up to 5 percent of the goods imported into the European Union have been found to be fakes, yet the infringement of intellectual property rights is particularly damaging for small and medium-sized enterprises because of the high litigation costgs. The development of e-commerce offers unprecedented opportunities to increase choice and access to the whole European market for consumers, but counterfeit products pose a threat to public health and safety.

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