We thank all of the participants for contributing and sharing their expertise with us. Member companies are randomly chosen each month to participate as a way to connect and educate our member community. To view our previous member spotlights, click here.
Freiman Hernandez
AIT Enforcement
Law Enforcement Operations Manager
Bogota, Colombia
What are the top 2 challenges in IP enforcement you see affecting your industry over the next year?
The illegal competitor is not seen as just another competitor to be beaten “commercially” in the long run; typically, it's evaluated solely from a criminal perspective (clearly it is) but looking at it only through that lens can leave out a creative business thinking ecosystem to address the challenge disruptively.
Another challenge is that before investing in brand protection, companies want to identify the scale of illicit, knowing internally that this is virtually impossible. However, what is a fact is that counterfeiters profit significantly putting the lives of patients, consumers, and farmers at risk, providing enough justification to invest even more than if dealing with legal competitors.
Can you provide your top 2 best practices for protecting IP?
Firstly, AIT Enforcement builds, maintains, and honors relationships of extremely high trust with various authorities on the continent. The advantage we have is that they do not see us as regulated corporations; they view us as credible allies who provide them with valuable intelligence information.
On the other hand, while many settle for taking down posts of suspicious products, knowing that offenders will create new profiles or seek new sales channels, we incredibly leverage the information available on the web (especially on social media) to translate it into successful law enforcement operations.
What’s your favorite famous or inspirational quote?
"Regardless of how many times you fall, what matters is how many times you rise" - Vince Lombardi
I like this quote by Vince Lombardi because it highlights the importance of perseverance and resilience in the face of challenges. Even when we encounter setbacks or failures, the crucial thing is our ability to pick ourselves up and keep moving forward. It encourages us to learn from our falls and not give up, as true success lies in our ability to overcome obstacles and keep striving towards our goals.
Can you provide your top 2 best practices for protecting IP?
Integrate sophisticated authentication technologies once you've made sure your IP assets are well protected. Even if you haven't experienced counterfeiting issues yet, view this as insurance to avoid future damage to your brand and financial loss. Track and trace and measures like holograms are easily replicated, so focus on technologies that ensure seamless implementation while presenting obstacles to counterfeiters. When selecting a technology provider, assess their impact on your supply chain, security track record, and ability to provide valuable authentication data. Utilizing a comprehensive monitoring and enforcement strategy is crucial for effectively measuring the effectiveness of an anti-counterfeiting technology.
How do you show your clients the value of brand protection?
The ROI of brand protection measures can be measured by identifying counterfeit hotspots and providing actionable data. With strong IP support, these insights can result in cost savings, revenue preservation, and enhanced brand reputation. To make investment decisions, you need to determine the extent of counterfeit losses, which is often challenging. Analyze internal financial, legal, and marketing data to determine trends in counterfeit sales and impacts on revenue. The impact of counterfeit products is not limited to loss of sales, but also other tangible costs like product recalls. Different industries face different challenges: Some consumers may buy fakes unknowingly, while others may seek them out, affecting customer loyalty and perceived brand value.
What’s your favorite famous or inspirational quote?
“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” – Dale Carnegie
What is one way a brand with a mature IP enforcement program can take their efforts to the next level?
Embrace new technologies and artificial intelligence by using and experimenting with tools that are available to the public. For instance, using the image search feature offered by various Internet search engines can be a quick and inexpensive method to identify instances of unauthorized use of trademarks, logos, product packaging, and other graphics or images used in marketing.
What are your top 2 recommendations to a brand that is building up its IP enforcement program?
Start with identifying and prioritizing the brand’s enforcement goals, whether it is to deter the filing of applications by squatters, to clear the Register of infringing marks, to maintain quality control and monitor activities of authorized distributors, to eradicate counterfeits in the market, etc. With a roadmap for brand protection in place, we also suggest ongoing communication and a regular audit of the enforcement goals and corresponding strategy. Priorities may change based on market trends, new brand initiatives, or revised budgets, and so revisiting the strategy on a regular basis allows the brand to stay on top of infringement or to refocus efforts and budgets on a different priority.
What’s your favorite famous or inspirational quote?
“This became a credo of mine: attempt the impossible in order to improve your work.” -Bette Davis
What are the top 2 challenges in IP enforcement you see affecting your industry over the next year?
The first challenge is the emergence of Generative AI and the increasing ease of access to previously gated technology. Fraudsters can generate high quality product content and create seemingly legitimate websites to distribute IP-infringing products very easily. In turn, effective enforcement has become much more difficult.
The second is the intensifying regulatory pressure, shifting liability towards the ecommerce and digital platforms, with elevating expectations for ecommerce sites to detect and remove illicit goods from their platforms.
The compounded impact of these two trends makes for a tremendously complex and evolving environment for ecommerce platforms to operate within.
Can you provide your top 2 best practices for protecting IP?
Tit for tat. In an environment where counterfeiters are using advanced technology to flood the markets with fake goods, brands and ecommerce platforms must embrace the latest technology to reduce counterfeits. Industry players should engage with partners who can fight counterfeiters through continuous investment in innovation and scalable technology.
As for comprehensive IP protection – it takes a village. The depth of your own first-party data will not suffice in today’s environment of multi-channel merchants. Early detection of counterfeits requires access to third party data, because counterfeiters' activity on other platforms is a strong predictor of their future behavior on your platform.
Who has influenced you most when it comes to how you approach your work?
My father has influenced me the most when it comes to my approach to work. As attested by numerous people, he is exceptionally wise. Still, my father has never leaned on his wisdom, he is also one of the hardest working people I have ever seen, even at 82 years old. His passion, his drive, and his dedication have been an inspiration for me in my professional life. Ultimately, no matter how competent one is, they should always put in their 100% every single day. Often, those who are successful are those who simply want it more and work harder.
