Christmas: It’s the Most Dangerous Time of the Year

Written by Laura-Lee Walker There'll be shoppers for scamming Valuables for stealing And drunk driving out in the snow There'll be scary homicidal stories And tales of the nightmares of Christmases long, long ago It's the most dangerous time of the year -Adaptation of Andy Williams: It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year There’s a dark under belly to Christmas lurking...

Vancouver: A Utopia for Counterfeiters

Counterfeits have flooded Vancouver marketplaces. The Vancouver Police Department estimates that $2 billion worth of knockoffs enter Vancouver every year. Virtually every product that’s popular has counterfeits. You can find a wide range of counterfeits in Vancouver from apparel and cigarettes to airbags and icewine. It's not just companies that are headquartered outside of Vancouver that are being affected. Vancouver-based companies, such as Lululemon,...

3D Printers: Should Brand Owners Be Worried?

3D printing marks a new wave of printing technology that has wide-reaching implications on both sides of the law. The impact of this technology on intellectual rights is significant. 3D printing is becoming more affordable for businesses, consumers and counterfeiters. This presents a new challenge, for brand owners, in the fight against counterfeiting. 3D printing can...

How to Spot a Counterfeit Website

“Counterfeit goods can be alluring when the prices are significantly lower than consumers would normally pay for the genuine articles... but in exchange for lower prices or the promise of delivery, consumers can end up with lower quality or non-functioning goods, often with no recourse for repair, replacement or refund.”—Jeannette Kopko, spokesperson for BBB...

The Smart Consumer and the Problem With Counterfeit Websites

“Global sales of counterfeit goods via the Internet from illegitimate retailers will reach $135 billion.”—MarkMonitor, Seven Best Practices for Fighting Counterfeit Sales Online There is an increase in websites selling knock-off products online as counterfeiters move away from selling their goods locally at markets and swap parties to tapping into the global demand for counterfeits...

How Brands Can Fight Counterfeiting on Kijiji

We’ve explored how brands protect themselves on eBay, Craigslist and Alibaba in previous blog posts, and now we will explore counterfeiting on Kijiji, an online marketplace for posting local advertisements. Kijiji is a subsidiary of eBay, and is available in countries around the world such as Canada, Italy, China and Japan. Counterfeits on Kijiji have been a significant problem from selling fake...

How Brands Can Protect Themselves on Craigslist

“Craigslist, as an internet service provider, is immune from liability unless it knows or has reason to know that goods are counterfeit.”—Maurice Ross, New York Intellectual Property Law Attorney Past posts addressed what brands can do to fight counterfeiting on eBay and protect their brand on Alibaba. Similar to the challenges that these online marketplaces face...

Protecting Online Content on Both Sides of the Border

By guest blogger Lucas S. Michels, Attorney at Ironmark Law Group, PLLC in Seattle, Washington, and blogger on cross-border and trade-related intellectual property issues at The IP Exporter.Being an IP and business attorney who services both U.S. and Canadian clients, I often find myself caught between the dichotomy of U.S. and Canadian online copyright...

How to Protect Your Brand on Alibaba

"I am afraid that something we notice but don't prevent today will eventually grow into a cancer for a company's future development... that's why I think I will surely regret it if we don't do well in fighting counterfeits," Ma Yun, Alibaba's chairman, said at his last news conference before he officially stepped down...

Culture Shock China! The Counterfeit Edition

"China has been confirmed in its position as the world's leading counterfeit superpower... from 2008 to 2010 almost 70 per cent of all counterfeits seized globally come from China." —Mark Turnage, CEO of OpSec Security Group From counterfeit companies to prehistoric fossils, if there is money to be made from piggy-backing on the branding efforts...