INTRODUCTION: A company's brand is one of its most valuable assets (Green and Smith 2002). Brand owners invest millions of dollars each year in advertising and promotion to increase awareness and create demand for their brands. With the growing trend of outsourcing manufacturing processes to emerging economies, brands are facing an increasing growth in counterfeit goods. These goods attempt to imitate luxury brands, which erodes the brands' value and reputation in the long run (Staake et al. 2009). As a result, counterfeiting is becoming a growing concern for status, prestige and luxury brands. By analyzing the existing literature on this topic, this essay attempts to examine the extent of counterfeiting, the reasons for its growth and consumer attitudes towards counterfeit products. It also provides insight into how the counterfeit market poses challenges for customer-brand relationships and strategies brands can implement to overcome these challenges. EXPLANATION OF TERMS: Counterfeiting refers to the unjustified use of a company's trademark, logo, and the like (Staake et al. 2009). Deceptive counterfeiting occurs when consumers do not know that goods are counterfeit. In non-deceptive counterfeiting the customer is fully aware that the goods he is purchasing are not authentic. This article focuses on the second type of counterfeiting as consumers are aware that they are purchasing counterfeit luxury goods. Dubois and Czellar (2002) refer to luxury brands as those goods that can offer comfort, beauty and sophistication. On the other hand, a prestige brand is referred to as a brand that has reached a definitive level of achievement, both in terms of quality and performance. O'Cass a...... middle of paper ......anagement, 11(2): pp. 67-88.Philips, T. (2005), 'Knockoff: The Deadly Trade in Counterfeit Goods', (Sterling, VA: Kogan Page Ltd.). Shultz II, C.J. and Saporito, B. (1996), “Intellectual Property Protection: Strategies and Recommendations to Deter Trademark Counterfeiting and Piracy in Global Markets,” The Columbia Journal of World Business, 31(1): pp. 18-28. Staake, T., Thiesse, F. and Fleisch, E. (2009), “The Emergence Of Counterfeit Trade: a Literature Review”, European Journal of Marketing, 43(3 /4): pp. 320-349. The Anti-Counterfeiting Group. (2008), 'The Sale of Counterfeiting', (England and Wales): pp. 1-3. Available at: http://www.southampton.gov.uk/Images/Scale%20of%20Counterfeiting_tcm46-198937.pdf[Accessed 19 March 2011].Trembly, A.C. (1999), 'Cyber ​​Crime Means Billions in Losses', National UnderwriterProperty and Causality, 103(26): pp. 19.