For those who do some online shopping at EB Airsoft, you have noticed products what were previously advertised as made with A-TACS AU and A-TACS FG patterns are now called "A" or "AC" with the multicam products also called "MC". There is a disclaimer that those products are not using the A-TACS camouflage pattern, and that the patterns are newly developed ones called "A"  which are registered and produced in Mainland China.

Well, the story is deeper than that.

We were able to get reliable information that there is a quiet global campaign against counterfeit gear being sold to airsoft, paintball, and other people into tactical gear produced in Mainland China. Perhaps you have heard stories about costumers in the U.S. complaining about shoddy gear and weapons accessories that carry well-known labels only to find out that what they have bought have been counterfeit. There has been clamp down in the U.S. and that the sales of such products at retailers have been minimised.

The focus of such campaign are against gear sellers since the brands have been encountering a hard time hunting down the manufacturers of counterfeit products in Mainland China. Whenever they hear word of a clamp down, they immediately change address, so it is a cat and mouse game all the time. And local authorities have always been lax in enforcing intellectual property conventions, with some "successes" in enforcement for media consumption and appease some complainants, then the products start appearing again after lull period. One company mentioned is Emerson Tactical Series, though this company is not the only one involved in such wide-scale manufacture of tactical gear copied from known brands.

With that realisation, the companies which own the intellectual properties thought it best to reduce the drop-off points elsewhere rather than rely on enforcement in China alone. Thus, retailers or resellers are now being targeted for selling counterfeit products. In Europe, there are some retailers identified, and a focus is also on Spain, which is very much a big market for airsoft and replica products. Just recently, eight people were arrested for selling counterfeit gear in Spain where there were simultaneous operations that were conducted in several areas in Toledo, Madrid, Barcelona, Vitoria, and Ciudad Real. A report of the raids can be read at 20minuto.es.

The video that is included in the news report shows airsoft guns seized showing some brands that may not have licenses to use trademarks or designs. But what was not shown in the video, our sources tell us, were "mountains of Emerson counterfeit products" that were also seized by the authorities.

Thus, the just recent change of the "A-TACS AU" and "A-TACS FG" products to "A" and "AC" at EB Airsoft was an immediate defensive reaction to the development in Spain.

So which countries and retailers are next? We do not know, but the brands are focusing on countries which have strong intellectual property enforcement for now and in countries which have higher purchasing power. If the brands will be able to minimise the sale of counterfeit gear in the EU just like what they have done in the U.S. then they will be able to remove major markets for the companies producing rip-offs that it will make it unprofitable for them to continue their operations.

Hong Kong will also be a particular focus, being a transit point of products made in China that are bound for major markets. The example of CAA and Magpul PTS in asserting their intellectual property rights via the appointment of legal representatives on the island has led to more genuine products available from these brands for the airsoft market.

As airsoft players, we can bitch and whine about the prices of genuine gear, but then we have to recognise that these products are results of research and development, and tested in real life by those whose lives depend on these. And all of these entail costs. The replicas, or to put it bluntly, the counterfeit products denies them of the revenue which they can devote a portion to even further improve their products. We have always said that the real deal always are worth it, then why not devote our budgets towards being able to afford those? Just remember that the money put into the development of such gear have also helped save lives.

As the campaign against counterfeit gear continues, we'll post reports as soon as we receive them.