According to the luxury goods retailer, Louis Vuitton, the fight against luxury counterfeiting still continues. Louis Vuitton's Asia Pacific president Jean-Baptiste Debains was in the country to reveal a new range of high-end leather luggages, bags and shoes along with the swanky Crown Casino store.

Mr Debains indicated that it was known to him that several Australians make use of designer knock-offs from Asia. "It is a big problem that we are fighting actively throughout the world," Mr Debains said. "People are realising that it's part of a bigger thing that is not acceptable and, in a way, when you buy a counterfeit product you are financing organised crime."

So the big question is whether counterfeiting is majorly affecting Louis Vuitton’s sales? The company’s net profit rose from 34 to $14.8 million in 2009 compared with $10.56 million in 2008. Additionally, the company recorded almost a 14 percent rise (to $148.41 million) in sales, as per Louis Vuitton Australia's 2009 financial report. In Australia, Louis Vuitton has shops in Collins St and Chadstone Shopping Centre, as well as stores on the east and west coasts of the country.

In other parts of the world too, luxury counterfeiting is a major concern for companies. In Manila, Philippines, agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) confiscated 11,760 assorted fake Louis Vuitton (LV) products worth US$3.5 million in successive raids in several establishments. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development states that the amount of counterfeit goods and pirated copyrights grew from about $100 billion in 2001 to about $250 billion in 2007.

The company may now be in a position to declare that fake retail products are not hurting them at the moment. But, the growing ‘fake’ market could significantly impact sales for the luxury retail giant in the near future.