Mike Candore

Learn more about Mike and the BCGuardian team.

Trump’s Memorandum on Combating Trafficking in Counterfeit and Pirated Goods

On April 3rd, President Trump released a memorandum (see Memorandum on Combating Trafficking in Counterfeit and Pirated Goods) calling for improved efforts by government agencies and a coordinated approach between government and private industry in the fight against counterfeit and pirated goods.

Pointing specifically to third-party marketplaces, the memorandum asserts that existing efforts are to be expanded to address the scale, scope, and consequences associated with the sale of counterfeit goods. However, a lack of comprehensive data regarding the trafficking of counterfeit goods on such third-party marketplaces is cited as an obstacle to overcome.

The memorandum issues a call for the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of Commerce to consult with IP rightsholders, third-party intermediaries, and other stakeholders to collect such data in order to develop a deeper understanding of how third-party marketplaces contribute to and benefit from the sale of counterfeit goods. Further, the Administration seeks to learn what controls and methods have been successfully implemented by third-party marketplaces to curb the trafficking of counterfeit goods.

This data is to be utilized in the development of a report to be issued to the Administration within 210 day of the memorandum’s issuance – a deadline of October 30th, 2019.

To learn how BCGuardian may be able to help your firm collect and/or analyze data responsive to the Trump Administration’s request for data regarding the trafficking of counterfeit and pirated copies of your goods, please contact Michael Candore at m.candore@bcguardian.com.

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Online Marketplace Enforcement

Background

Faced with a surge of counterfeits flooding online marketplaces, a group of the world’s leading educational publishers relied on BCGuardian to develop a custom solution to remove the counterfeits from circulation and provide the evidentiary basis, not just for litigation and enforcement, but for outreach to channel partners, distributors, and online marketplaces.

Solution

BCGuardian’s team of experts devised a multi-pronged enforcement program centered around the collection of evidence at scale, building the infrastructure and developing the resources necessary to purchase, inspect, and process thousands of units each month of what purported to be our clients’ goods.

Results

The evidence, research, and reporting generated by BCGuardian have fueled our clients’ anti-counterfeiting enforcement efforts with marketplace storefronts, wholesale distributors, retail distributors, and foreign manufacturers.

BCGuardian’s efforts also enabled our clients to align much of the ecosystem in the fight against counterfeits, contributing to the development and wide-spread adoption of a series of anti-counterfeiting best practices, removing thousands of counterfeits and pirate sellers from the marketplace along the way.

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Inventory Audit to Identify and Seize Counterfeit Goods

Background

BCGuardian uncovered counterfeit copies of our clients’ goods in a distribution channel partner’s inventory. Upon closer examination, it became apparent that a systematic flaw in the channel partner’s procurement network had been exploited and was being taken advantage of by a ring of foreign counterfeiters to dump counterfeit versions of our clients’ goods into the U.S. market.

Solution

BCGuardian worked with the channel partner across numerous distribution centers within the channel partner’s network to coordinate and execute a targeted audit of all inventory believed to be infected by the inflow of counterfeits.

Results

BCGuardian and our clients reviewed over 100,000 units of inventory at risk for being affected by the foreign ring’s illegal counterfeiting activity. When all was said and done, tens of thousands of counterfeit units were identified and removed from the channel partner’s inventory.

BCGuardian’s collaborative efforts with its clients’ channel partner led to a strong working relationship, which included delivering training for the channel partner to identify counterfeit versions of our clients’ goods on intake. It also led to a review and establishment of controls to prevent counterfeits from entering the channel partner’s inventory in the first instance.


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