Counterfeiting is the unauthorized duplication of any object, especially money, with the intent to defraud (cheat someone). The printing and coining of money is the responsibility of national governments. In the United States, the Secret Service works to prevent the counterfeiting of U.S. currency.
The manufacture of imitation brand-name goods, including clothes, computers, and automobile parts, is called trademark counterfeiting or pirating. Counterfeit products are almost always inferior to the genuine products. Consumers are defrauded when they buy counterfeit goods, because they believe they are getting the real ones. The Trademark Counterfeiting Act of 1984 made it illegal to make or sell counterfeit goods.
