We provide a clear point of contact
We feel that it is imperative to any anti-counterfeiting strategy to offer law enforcement officers a clear point of contact from which they are confident that any queries they have will be answered in a timely and efficient manner.
We continuously share our knowledge & educate on current trends
We continually seek to educate law enforcement officers involved in IPR matters in the current trends regarding the theft of our clients’ rights. We do this by sharing our knowledge with officials face-to-face wherever possible (i.e. whilst attending raids, or, for example, Anti-Counterfeiting Group (ACG) law enforcement road shows or the Trading Standards Institute (TSI) Annual Conferences). This contact demonstrates our clients’ commitment to enforcement matters.
We provide enforcement guidance in a secure manner
Where one-to-one training is not an option (due to the cost and time involved), we can provide relevant officials with materials and information in the form of ‘enforcement guides’, in order that they are able to identify counterfeit produce themselves. This means that as time goes on and their confidence increases, they will need less and less input when identifying counterfeit produce before sending to us for confirmation.
We make progress by applying a consistent methodology
We liaise with all individuals involved in our clients’ enforcement strategy, including; law enforcement officials; in-house counsel; and outside counsel.
Overall, our aim is to ensure that a consistent methodology is maintained in the application of our clients’ anti-counterfeiting strategies, in order that the best possible progress is made in each and every matter.
We consider both your criminal and civil rights
As part of our service, we consistently maintain consideration for the enforcement of our clients’ civil as well as criminal rights. Because of this, we are able to advise our clients when ‘targets’ are identified as having sufficient assets to warrant civil actions. For example, where there is a likelihood that full costs could be recovered via a civil action, we would seek to negotiate with the law enforcement agencies in order to ensure that our clients’ best interests are always considered first before any criminal action is commenced.
We encourage law enforcement officers to contact us
Our easy to remember ‘word number’ +44843 BRANDUK (+44 843 2726385) is designed to encourage law enforcement officers to contact us without thinking twice to report any suspect activity or produce relating to our clients’ Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs).
We constantly assess and relay relevant intelligence
We constantly assess the intelligence that we receive and where it should be relayed (if at all). For example, elements of intelligence that we receive in the course of our dealings with Trading Standards officials may be imperative to maintaining the accuracy of our clients’ HMRC (Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs) IP applications, – a factor that is often over-looked. To combat this problem, we ensure that all relevant intelligence is entered into the UK Intellectual Property Office’s (UK IPO) new Intellectual Property Intelligence Database (IPID)).
We continuously monitor the marketplace
Whilst law enforcement officials might alert our clients to a proportion of infringements, it is largely up to the brand itself to monitor the marketplace and report any infringements to officials, in order that criminal action may be taken against infringers. As part of this process, we recommend that all of our clients monitor both the physical and virtual marketplace in order to identify those individuals infringing their brands.