Dutch Police has a website where you can enter a serial number and check if it's registred as stolen (https://www.stopheling.nl/). The same way our variant of the DMV has a register where you can check frame numbers of bicycles to see if they are stolen (https://www.rdw.nl/Particulier/Paginas/Fiets.aspx). I know the latter works, although it still takes a committed citizen to harass the police multiple times to get them to contact the original owner... On the former; not so sure. There is also a police website here where you can check bank account numbers against online fraud, but that one simply never finds anyting...
But some of the stolen stuff is sold with erased serial number, so there is no way to tell, although it's pretty obvious in that case...
The same with Festools being sold "new" but without documentation, Plug-it cord and systainer. (Stolen from showroom...). Cheap deals from dealers selling empty systainers (+inlay) and plug-it cords means that they got stolen from.
Festool itself could create a register of stolen stuff, especially the newer stuff that is stolen under Festool insurance, since that already requires victimes to file an official police report.
But as long as police forces everywhere do nothing on this issue, no amount of registries, lists or equivalents will change anything.
