Counterfeits key to global south trade.

In the past three decades or so, the proliferation of counterfeit products has become increasingly prevalent, with far-reaching effects across developing nations in the Global South (Akinyandenu, 2013; Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) & European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), 2019; Yi et al., 2022). This problem has been further amplified by technological advances and the evolution of the internet and digital platforms, which provide ample opportunities for online piracy to flourish, affecting digital works encompassing films, books, music, television shows, and software (OECD & EUIPO, 2019; The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), 2023). Across a range of industries, including intellectual property (IP)-intensive sectors such as pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, entertainment, media, education, and creative industries, the social and economic forces driving counterfeiting remain widespread (Berman, 2008; Gao and Wu, 2023; OECD & EUIPO, 2019; USTR, 2023; Ziavrou et al., 2022). According to the OECD (2019), trade in counterfeit and pirated goods that infringe on trademarks and copyrights accounts for around 3.3% of global trade and continues to rise year on year. For instance, in the European Union (EU), such goods account for approximately 6.8% of imports from non-EU nations (OECD, 2019). While counterfeiting has historically been associated with prestigious and luxury goods, this phenomenon has transformed to impact both the healthcare sector and healthcare products, such as pharmaceutical and electronic items, which directly affect the security and safety of citizens (see Akinyandenu, 2013; Yi et al., 2022).