SCHOOLCHILDREN on Teesside are being included in a Government survey into attitudes about buying counterfeit goods.
The Patents Office in London has approached the University of Teesside, in Middlesbrough, for help in gathering information about counterfeit goods in the area.
One of the university's consumer law students is going into schools to find out their perceptions about buying fake designer goods.
University lecturer John Whisson says youngsters now have their own spending power.
Mr Whisson said: "I don't think people can distinguish. The problem is the counterfeiter is now becoming very clever. They are concentrating their energies on producing better goods, and better packaging. But the quality is not there.''
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