As part of our Anti-Counterfeiting practice, we provide trademark counterfeiting enforcement services.

Brand Protection and Trademark Counterfeiting

Brand owners lose significant revenue each year due the counterfeit product sales. Successful brands are regularly targeted by counterfeiters. In addition to direct monetary losses, trademark counterfeiting can lead to harm to reputation and goodwill. Therefore, a company’s reputation can rely on protection and enforcement against trademark counterfeiting to protect its brand and prevent misuse. Our attorneys work closely with clients to develop effective trademark enforcement and misappropriation programs. See our post What are trademark infringement damages? for a discussion of damages and enforcement options.

Trademark Counterfeiting and Misappropriation

Trademark counterfeiting occurs when a trademark is affixed to good or services that is not authentic to the brand. While most people can spot a counterfeit product due to price, forgers are finding ways to deceive consumers through “flash sales” and other similar ploys. Additionally, gray market goods or the placing of logos on products of similar but different quality makes counterfeit goods unidentifiable. Consumers then mistakenly associate their experience with the product to the brand affixed to it, often diminishing brand reputation.

This misappropriation of trademark rights can cause considerable economic loss of profits and market share by the brand owner. It can also cause harm by tarnishing the brand image, as counterfeits and pirated goods are often of inferior quality. These issues have become a growing challenge for brand owners with the ease of Internet sales and rampant manufacture of counterfeit goods. We understand the importance of our clients’ brands and the significant impact trademark counterfeiting has on these valuable assets.

Working closely with our clients, we develop effective anti-counterfeiting measures and strategies. We then implement and execute enforcement programs in line with clients’ primary objectives. As part of our trademark counterfeiting programs, we:

Monitor for Counterfeiting and Piracy
Social Media Monitoring and Enforcement
Offer Defensive Trademark Registration in First-To-File Countries
Record Trademarks and other IP Rights with U.S. Customs and Border Patrol
Trademark Monitoring and Watch Services
Conduct Investigations

Additionally, we partner with a network of foreign associates around the world to identify and take legal action against trademark counterfeiting. We also help to identify and shut down manufacturers of imitation goods in and outside the U.S. Our trademark lawyers help manage anti-counterfeiting enforcement efforts globally to stop or at least minimize trademark counterfeiters and piracy.

Trademark Counterfeiting and Gray Market Goods

Trademark counterfeiters can seriously affect a company’s impact in certain local or nationwide markets regardless of the piracy’s scale. Gray market goods also have a significant negative impact on the value of a brand. These goods are genuine branded goods obtained from one market, imported and sold into another market without the consent of the trademark owner. Gray market diversion undercuts the price of the branded goods through sale at a lower price. This subsequently reduces the revenue the trademark owner could have achieved as well as confuses market value pricing.

We help companies develop anti-counterfeiting enforcement plans to fight the manufacture and sale of illegal and gray market goods. We offer proactive anti-counterfeiting solutions designed to help clients prevent trademark counterfeiters for protection for their brands.