Recent Trends in Counterfeiting Cases (Update)

Most businesses invest a great deal of thought, time and money into selecting trademarks and building brand awareness for their goods, but many fail to police and enforce their trademark rights to ensure the value and prestige of their exclusive brands. In 2016, a study of the International Trademark Association found that the market for counterfeit goods has ballooned into a global industry worth nearly a half a trillion dollars. In a global economy, this level of counterfeiting activity is a challenge that impacts the bottom line of a substantial cross-section of business and industry, including consumer goods, industrial goods, luxury goods, apparel, pharmaceuticals, and food. Although many people mistakenly believe that counterfeiters only target luxury goods or large brands, the reality is that counterfeiters are both willing and able to identify and misappropriate intellectual property of smaller companies and start-ups.

This program, taught by Geoffrey M. Goodale of FisherBroyles LLC and Chris Turk, a Trademark and Copyright attorney and consultant, will examine recent trends in counterfeiting cases, focusing on how best to create and implement a practical and comprehensive brand protection strategy to combat the counterfeiting of a client's valuable goods and trademarks. If a client's branded products are successful in the market, there is a very real threat that they will have been or will be the victim of counterfeiting. The aim of all anti-counterfeiting and brand protection programs should be to identify threats, deter counterfeiting, and ensure that the intellectual property infringers and counterfeiters are held accountable by way of civil action or criminal prosecution. Many brand owners fear the unknown, in particular the cost of developing and implementing an anti-counterfeiting program, and this course will help practitioners proactively assess the best ways to protect their clients brands and intellectual property in a thoughtful, creative and efficient manner.