Anti-counterfeiting

Anti-counterfeiting measures help to protect the brand, reputation and bottom-line of a business.

The activities of counterfeiters are not only disruptive but can cause distress and reputational damage. This can be compounded by the difficulty of tracing counterfeiters and stopping their activities.

Anti-counterfeiting measures can be preventative, for example:

• Ensuring that customs authorities in the UK and EU inspect, detain and destroy goods that are suspected of infringing your intellectual property rights (or are otherwise “fake”).
• Managing your portfolio of registered trade marks and design rights in the UK and internationally to ensure that these rights remain in force.

With the UK no longer part of the EU, it is often necessary for businesses to separately implement and maintain measures for the protection of their intellectual property rights in the UK and in the EU.  Waterfront has the relevant knowledge and experience to navigate these different regimes and a network of European partners who can assist when required.

Businesses will often need to enforce their intellectual property rights in order to prevent the production, advertising and sale of counterfeit products and services.

Our expert anti-counterfeiting lawyers can help to:

• Explain the relevant intellectual property right on which you can rely (which could range from registered trade marks, to unregistered design rights or database rights);
• Collate evidence of the counterfeiting acts;
• Identify the individual or entity against whom enforcement action will likely be most effective; and
• Prepare the relevant documentation, evidence and correspondence to be sent to infringing parties, the appropriate intermediary (i.e. social media platform) or submit it to the court.

With the proliferation of counterfeiting activities occurring online, the cross-disciplinary expertise of our intellectual property lawyers is invaluable.  We have in-depth knowledge of the law as it relates to domain names, software, data protection and emerging technologies (including DLT and blockchain technologies).

Whether imitation goods are being sold via fake social media pages or counterfeiters are cybersquatting on domain names that are similar to your brand in order to send, scam, spam or phishing emails, we can readily advise on alternative options available to you in respect of protecting and enforcing your rights.

Our team of expert anti-counterfeiting lawyers also have extensive experience of obtaining, opposing and challenging search and seizure orders, including “doorstep Piller” orders and injunctions, which can be used to seize counterfeit goods.

If you would like further advice about anti-counterfeiting, please contact our team for a free initial chat.