Counterfeiting damages the economy and harms small business

It is beyond dispute that counterfeits cause grave harm to innovation and our economy. The National Association of Manufacturers estimates that counterfeits sucked $131 billion (about $400 per person in the U.S.) from the U.S. economy in 2019, and in the process destroyed more than 300,000 U.S. jobs and wiped away nearly $10 billion in federal, state, and local tax revenues.4 This is an issue for governments and businesses of all sizes. The burden of constantly monitoring websites – while tough for an external observer – is particularly rough for small businesses, especially if they derive their entire livelihood from the internet. While nobody has the resources to be everywhere all at once, this is particularly the case for small businesses that have limited means to stop illicit actors from illegally selling their innovative product.