I guess what triggered me to write my first comment was the fact someone buying a "TI" something chip from eBay when it lists "China" as the seller's location and with a seller's name other than something easily verified to be TI, then it seems there is no pretense that the thing being sold is genuine TI. But the word "fake" holds the connotation that there is some deception going on. So that is why I don't think fake is the most appropriate word. I just hear that word used too much to disparage chinese made derivative imitation products. Someone who knows they don't need the noise levels and voltages tolerances can be perfectly happy and even benefit by using these instead of the more expensive genuine TI.