Manufacturers are confronted with a rising number of counterfeits and imitations of their original products, causing both financial and brand damages most of them are not willing to accept. There are many different useful ways of fighting such imitations, depending on the particular situation. In recent years, first models for decision support in selecting the appropriate scope of countermeasures have emerged from academia as well as consulting companies. However, all of them share a common downside: Very large numbers of relevant influence factors are restricting the general applicability of such models to a very low level. This paper presents a different approach focusing on classifications of both potential damage by imitations and potential mechanisms to prevent those damages. By mapping damages to prevention mechanisms and prevention mechanisms to single counter measures, a decision support system can be obtained that is less analysis-prone than existing ones are, and thus more generally applicable. System design and application example will be described in this contribution.     «

Manufacturers are confronted with a rising number of counterfeits and imitations of their original products, causing both financial and brand damages most of them are not willing to accept. There are many different useful ways of fighting such imitations, depending on the particular situation. In recent years, first models for decision support in selecting the appropriate scope of countermeasures have emerged from academia as well as consulting companies. However, all of them share a common down...     »