Please view this month's Member Spotlights!

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. 

Virginia Cervieri

Cervieri Monsuárez

Senior Partner at Cervieri Monsuárez

Montevideo, Uruguay

What is your role in your company/organization?

I am the Senior Partner of law firm Cervieri Monsuárez, which is based in Uruguay and has offices in Paraguay and Bolivia too.

What makes your company unique? 

In Cervieri Monsuárez we take care of it. We have a team for each area of the firm, and each team is specialized in a practice, where each case is handled by a senior and a junior lawyer, together with a paralegal. As we believe that every case that is presented to us is important, we aspire to pay special attention to each one of them, no matter the client or the relevance of it. We first define a strategy, then we create a plan for it, and we look for a solution, always seeking for efficacy and the best result for the client. This is how we like to take care of it, and that is exactly what differentiates us from the rest.

Can you provide your top 2 best practices for protecting IP? 

I. The public and private relationship is the most important aspect. They both need to work in conjunction and align their forces.

II. To train and teach the officials, because there is a lot of rotation, and they need to be constantly educated to do their job properly.

III. The Brand needs to be involved and present. It must assist the seizures and help officers. They need to support their work.

IV. To be available 24/7, to help the officers and the prosecutors and judges. It is all about being there for the authorities when they need it.

V. To recognize their work when positive outcomes take place, and to correct them when they are not doing their job as they should.

What’s the best piece of advice you have ever been given? 

The first piece of advice I believe is essential is: “Go where you are wanted and stray from where you aren’t”.

This applies for personal life and for professional life too, for example, regarding clients. One must know when it is necessary to show up, and when it is necessary to await to be called or needed.

Secondly, and not less important, I feel identified with this short story, that vividly demonstrates how hard work is what truly pays off:

“—The secret of life is this: The cow does not give milk. "What are you saying?" Asked a little boy incredulously.—As you hear it, son: The cow does not give milk, you have to milk it. You have to get up at 4 in the morning, go to the field, walk through the corral full of excrement, tie the tail and legs of the cow, sit on the bench, place the bucket and do the work yourself...

That is the secret of life, the cow does not give milk. You milk her or you don't get milk. There is this generation that thinks that cows GIVE milk; that things are automatic, easy and for free: their mentality is that if "I wish, I ask, and I obtain". They have been accustomed to get whatever they want the easy way...But No, life is not a matter of wishing, asking and obtaining. Happiness is the result of the effort made. Lack of effort creates frustration and ignorance.” – Anonymous.

Contact info: vcervieri@cmlawyers.com.uy

Sherri Erickson

De La Rue

Key Accounts Director

Edmonds, WA, USA

What is your role in your company/organization?

I lead the account team for our Microsoft business as well as lead our product authentication efforts in the Electronics & Consumer vertical industry.

What are the top 2 challenges in IP enforcement you see affecting your industry over the next year? 

De La Rue recently co-sponsored an industry study along with AGMA, the Alliance for Gray Market and Counterfeit Abatement, where we heard from leading experts in brand protection there are 1) Global trends affecting brand protection programs (acceleration of counterfeit, expansion of market vulnerabilities, and complication of trade and sanctions), and 2) Industry trends impacting the approach to brand protection (Corporate responsibility initiatives, IoT, refurbished devices, and right-to-repair). These two sets of challenges mean we must reassess what and how we are prioritizing limited resources. Insights and details are available in the whitepaper, found here.

What are your top 2 recommendations to a brand that is building up its IP enforcement program?

First is to engage with SMEs in your industry vertical to listen and learn how they approached the prioritization of what’s first, next, sometimes, and always, and vet what you hear when you talk with solutions providers. There are several industry organizations that enable this type of best practice sharing. Second is to build a program that enables centralized data capture which will help verify and quantify your early assumptions and provide insights to guide your decision making. There are excellent physical-to-digital solutions that can effectively underpin brand protection and IP enforcement programs.

How did you get into brand protection? 

Protecting IP aligns directly with my personal values where I take a stand on protecting creative works, whether it’s music, art, literature, software, or tangible products, and whether they are created by an individual or an enterprise organization. My career encompasses over 20 years focusing on various elements of brand protection, including antipiracy, anticounterfeit, license compliance, Software Asset Management, Intellectual Property Rights protection, and the like. This includes nearly 15 years at Microsoft where I started in the U.S. subsidiary and then moved to corporate where I covered a global scope of brand protection responsibilities.

Contact info: Sherri.Erickson@DeLaRue.com  

Paige Fang

Juul Labs, Inc.

Brand Protection Counsel

Boxborough, MA, USA

What is your role in your company/organization?

As Brand Protection Counsel at Juul Labs Inc., I oversee the company’s Brand Protection Cease and Desist and litigation programs, with the goal of disrupting distribution and putting pressure on retailers identified selling counterfeit and/or diverted products.

What’s one piece of advice you can give a brand looking to enforce their IP? 
 

First, it is important to get buy-in from your organization as to what your enforcement program entails. Once you begin executing, do not be a paper tiger – meaning, if you say you are going to take an enforcement measure, follow through and be consistent every time. You do not want to get a reputation for having empty threats. This especially applies if you have a Cease and Desist program, and the recipient does not comply, you must follow through with some further enforcement action.

What's the most rewarding part of your job / what is the thing that you've been most proud of in your anti-counterfeiting work? 

The most rewarding part of my job is seeing our Brand Protection team develop a program that achieves measurable results we can communicate to the company and become a leader in our industry.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why? 

In February 2020, my family moved to our dream location, living in the countryside in Massachusetts. We want to create a little farm and used 2020 as a year to jump start that dream. We cleared almost 5 acres of old pines to restore the land to pasture grasses. Evenings and weekends have been spent picking up sticks and rocks after the clearing, preparing the soil for planting grasses. Our two young boys will grow up with their hands and feet in the dirt, learning the value of hard work.

Contact info: paige@juul.com

Tina Huckleberry           

The Lumistella Company

Intellectual Property Infringement Coordinator

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

What’s one piece of advice you can give a brand looking to enforce their IP?

One piece of advice I would give would be to implement efficient internal record keeping and evidence collection processes. This will allow your company to keep track of specific metrics and data to develop and create enforcement strategies and stay proactive with current infringement trends. Creating cooperative processes within your organization with other departments is also very valuable.

What's the most rewarding part of your job / what is the thing that you've been most proud of in your anti-counterfeiting work? 

The company culture is one of the most rewarding aspects of my job. I work alongside some amazing individuals and feel truly valued for my contributions. It is also very inspiring to watch the creativity and innovation that comes from such an environment.   This motivates me to be passionate about protecting the companies Intellectual Property. I take pride in streamlining our online enforcement strategies, allowing us to stay on top of trends, takedown infringement quickly and provide essential data to our executive team.

What’s your favorite famous or inspirational quote? 

“Success is not final; failure is not fatal; It is the courage to continue that counts.”

Winston S. Churchill

Marcella (Marci) Ballard

Venable LLP

Partner

New York, USA

What is your role in your company/organization?

How did you get into brand protection?

I got into brand protection after I moved to civil litigation after leaving the DA’s office as a prosecuting attorney (ADA) in the Bronx. It was a natural fit, going after counterfeiters and appearing in court on behalf of brands to enforce their trademarks. I enjoy working with investigators and the clients to develop cases and pursue counterfeiting using all the available tools at our disposal (both civil and criminal).

Contact info: mballard@Venable.com