(Photo: Aktion Plagiarius e.V.)

3rd prize 2018 - "PUKY Racer" scooter

On the left the original from Puky in Wülfrath, on the right the fake from China. The manufacturer is Xingtai Kurbao Toys from Hebei, which sells online, including via alibaba.com. The design and technology were copied 1:1 from the original. The cheap materials (housing, wheels, steering wheel) and poor workmanship (surfaces) reflect the inferior quality, according to the Plagiarius campaign. According to the EU Commission, EU customs authorities confiscated more than 41 million infringing products worth 670 million euros at the EU's external borders in 2016 alone - and that's just the tip of the iceberg. Although China is the number one country of origin for counterfeits, more and more Chinese companies are developing from the West's extended workbench into serious competitors on the global markets.