First of all, to be fair to all parties, gaterons are not counterfeit. The patent expired, and they are not being marketed as anything other than what they are. They are MX compatible switches. Counterfeit has real meaning that should be respected.
I'd take the "dramatic drop" in quality with a grain of salt. I've personally not noticed a difference outside of their linear switches, and even then only when gently fingering a key looking for imperfections, never when actually using the keyboard as a ****ing keyboard. This is not to question the virtues of those who proclaim a huge difference, only to say that YOU might or might not notice a difference, and even if you notice a difference you might or might not care.
All that said, I personally really like the lighter spring weight zealios instead of Browns. I think zeal has solved some of the issues I've had with gaterons and cherrys in the past (while creating some small other issues maybe, but I think those might be worked out for this latest round) and the lighter spring weight really does make the bump feel less pronounced. In truth, I have sampled a variety of tactile switches, but never the gateron brown specifically, so maybe someone else can help with that.