Anti-Counterfeiting Enforcement

The Threat of Counterfeit Goods

At Heer Law, we help businesses register their intellectual property rights every day. Many of these businesses come to us looking to protect their brand by registering one or more trademarks - but we know brand protection doesn’t end there. Despite best efforts, despite countless registered trademarks and industrial designs, brands across the world fall victim to counterfeiting every day. It’s a problem touching all kinds of products and all kinds of industries, and the more successful a business becomes, the more likely it is to be targeted.

In 2019, the FBI’s Intellectual Property Rights Unit was quoted explaining that counterfeit goods are estimated to cost U.S. businesses $600 billion a year. With technology improving every day, so is its capacity to create increasingly convincing dupes. As counterfeit goods become more and more difficult to pick out, it is more than likely that this $600 billion number is only rising.

Counterfeit goods undermine the time, energy and money businesses are constantly investing in their brand and its reputation in the market. Repeated sales of sub-par counterfeit goods made to appear as though they originate from an established brand can quickly lead to disillusioned and disappointed customers questioning their brand loyalties. While it is clear counterfeiting threatens the integrity of your brand, it may even, in some cases, pose a safety risk to your target market. At best, counterfeit goods lack in quality, however, counterfeit goods may also lack the safety features you’ve diligently incorporated into your products.

Your business was built on originality, consistency, quality of service and of product. It benefits from a reputation for much of the same and depends on the preservation of that reputation. We appreciate that counterfeit goods deprive you not only of individual sales but may also irreparably tarnish your reputation in the market, causing you unquantifiable losses for years to come.

Proactive Protection and Prompt Enforcement

At Heer Law, we recognize the damage counterfeiting can inflict on a business. We know the value of taking proactive steps to reduce the risk of counterfeiting and understand the need to quickly and permanently put an end to the production and sale of counterfeit goods once discovered.

We support businesses in developing anti-counterfeiting and brand protection strategies, registering their brand elements and bestselling designs as trademarks and industrial designs, and, when counterfeit goods are detected, quickly and effectively enforcing their rights.

Our team has experience responding to small- and large-scale counterfeiting and trademark infringement, in and out of court. We work with clients to achieve their goals strategically and practically through a spectrum of enforcement options ranging from cease-and-desist correspondence to litigation in the Federal Court.

Our senior anti-counterfeit lawyer, Georgina Danzig, has successfully represented some of the biggest names in fashion and cosmetics, including Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Givenchy and Versace. Through exceptional advocacy, Georgina has obtained critical injunctions protecting her clients’ interests amid litigation and damages awards upwards of one million dollars.

If you’ve been victim to counterfeiting, or want to proactively protect your brand, contact us today for a complimentary and confidential telephone appointment.