(Photo: Aktion Plagiarius e.V.)

1st prize 2015 - Hot air blower "HL 1610 S" and "HG 2310 LCD":

The originals on the left are made by Steinel, Herzebrock-Clarholz, Germany, the counterfeits on the right are distributed by Shenzhen Jin Xiong of internal and external electronic tools, Shenzhen, PR China. For a study published in December 2015, the consulting firm Ernst & Young surveyed German entrepreneurs and consumers on the subject of product and brand piracy. According to the study, almost 60 percent of companies are confronted with counterfeiting in the first year after launching a product, and almost one in ten companies even in the first month after market launch.