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.
What are the top 2 challenges in IP enforcement you see affecting your industry over the next year?
Legalization of parallel imports in Russia and consecutive weakening of customs control had a deteriorating effect on the level of counterfeits and efficiency of customs control across the Eurasian Economic Union.
While Russian customs remained a considerable force during the last several years, providing though not fool proof but reliable instruments to curb counterfeit import, they now have very limited powers to inspect shipments. This creates issues for the whole region – with Russia remaining its economic center. Simultaneously we see fakes in product categories, which used to be ignored by counterfeiters.
These urge the brand owners to explore new approaches to be able to provide authorities with very specific and reliable tips, obtained through investigative and analytical work – which might provide grounds to customs to detain illegitimate products.
What are your top 2 recommendations to a brand that is building up its IP enforcement program?
Evolve. The ever-developing technology is providing counterfeiters with numerous tools to work without being caught and any brand, thinking of protecting its assets, should be ready to react proportionally quickly. Explore new ways, methods and tools, communicate with your peers, and always be on the lookout for new tools. And do not ignore software helping you record your cases, keep statistics and store investigative data. It has proven indispensable in analytical work and promoting brand protection value to stakeholders.
What’s the best piece of advice you have ever been given?
Always do a bit more. This is the advice my father gave me when I was a little girl and I have been living by this advice ever since and made it part of our agency policy. It helps with our IP enforcement efforts and client work, when you always think one step ahead.
Can you provide your top 2 best practices for protecting IP?
From an investigator’s perspective, 2 of my top best practices have been source management and continued training. We need to be in constant contact with law enforcement offices, court officials and US Embassy agencies and in Latin America, these are in constant rotation. Anytime an IP product comes under fire, we need immediate assistance from HSI agents and customs officials. If they don’t already know us, we may not get the support we need for our customers in a timely manner. Ongoing training is even more important to keep on top of latest trends, ethics training and product expertise training.
What are your top 2 recommendations to a brand that is building up its IP enforcement program?
Coincidentally, we are assisting on building up an enforcement program for a brand in the tobacco industry. Our two main recommendations for them have been 1. Zero Tolerance on offenders – if we relentlessly engage those entities involved in illicit activities, we could eventually turn their lucrative (yet illicit) business into a burden, and 2. For the company to adhere to KPI goals for their in-house team as well as external service providers, including external investigators, law firms and product experts. The entire team needs to be compliant as they all depend on one another.
What hobbies or causes are you passionate about?
Having grown up in northern Wisconsin, I was introduced to fishing, hunting and working with my hands alongside other family members. My grandfather being my greatest inspiration of all, his passions naturally became mine as well. Because of him, not a week goes by that I’m not dabbling in some wood project or taking my boys fishing. I realized over time however, that my passion for fishing and woodworking, wasn’t just because I enjoyed it, but also because of the quality of time I spend with my boys and my grandson, just as my grandfather did with me.
What are your top 2 recommendations to a brand that is building up its IP enforcement program?
In our short time in the market, it has become apparent that brands can do more with less. The potential of utilizing the data that brands can collate as well as data they already have is vast. This data will allow brands to create compelling strategies to enforce their IP rights today and tomorrow.
Our main mission is to apply this data en masse by cooperating with Logistics Firms and feeding our ML algorithms with data gathered from small parcels containing counterfeit items for more precise results.
1. As we know, “data is the new gold”; therefore, creating a process where you can store data simply and effectively is the foundation for IP enforcement programs moving forward. 2. Look for ways that you can utilize this valuable data to reduce the workload for the team and create better, more impactful results.
How do you show your clients the value of brand protection?
The key message of Countercheck is the global potential of the solution. We will become the first global standard anti-counterfeiting software for logistics firms. Brands will get unprecedented access to logistics firms to block their counterfeited items, allowing them to understand the trade routes of their counterfeit which will create an unmatched data set to document compelling enforcement packages. We are the only firm capable of targeting small parcels on such a scale. Using software to scan near 100% of parcels, allows us to offer efficiencies to the authorities without compromising the parcel flow of the logistics firm while ensuring that all legal processes are taken into account.
What’s your favorite famous or inspirational quote?
“The best way to predict the future is to invent it.” – Alan Kay
How can companies use customer feedback to enhance its brand protection program?
Be open towards customer feedback! It’s the customers that detect counterfeit / infringing offers in the markets during their random shops.
Engage with the customer! They have valuable information about the counterfeit products’ source, gathered through their product searches, offer comparison, payment process, etc. All of this information is free of charge for you. Meanwhile you give the customer a great experience with the brand, when appreciating their reports.
And always remember: Customers share experience with each other!
What’s one piece of advice you can give an SME looking to enforce their IP?
From A-Z:
Build and defend a proper and tailormade IP portfolio.
Adapt security features to your products for identification purposes.
Familiarize yourself with your legitimate sales channels.
Find yourself matching vendors, online and offline, and request a landscape research. This will help you identify the most affected regions, products, platforms, etc.
Prioritize where to embark on enforcing by taking into account valuable feedback from your internal and external stakeholders.
And lastly: Make sure to stay efficient!
What hobbies or causes are you passionate about?
I am an absolute foodie! So, working for a sporting goods company is the perfect fit. Working on our great products reminds me every single day to not skip the workout!
