Sergio Robleto and Henry Kupperman, co-executive managing directors of Applied Facts, a Los Angeles–based corporate investigations firm, have seen online counterfeiting steadily grow over the last 10 years.
“Online [intellectual property] theft has been an issue right from the beginning,” Robleto said, for industries as varied as apparel, pharmaceutical, automotive, electronic, toy and accessories. “Once, we ran across a counterfeit BMW.”
Founded in 2004 by Robleto, a former member of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Metropolitan Forgery Section, Applied Facts specializes in intellectual-property protection, security and surveillance, due diligence and background checks, and internal corporate investigations. Lately, rogue sites—which sell counterfeit goods, often while masquerading as legitimate online vendors for brands—have figured more prominently in their caseloads.
“As e-tail has picked up, so has online IP theft. The increase parallels the market,” said Kupperman, who also acts as the firm’s general counsel. And, he said, counterfeiters have also become more sophisticated. “Twenty years ago, counterfeiters would just sew in a Levi’s tag. Now, they include design details and go as far as including authenticating tags and stamps. The result is that now the consumer, even the savvy consumer, is finding it more difficult to tell what’s authentic and what’s not.”
The company declined to name any of its apparel clients but offered suggestions for apparel makers and other business owners to protect their intellectual property before the problem gets out of hand—and grows costly.
• Know who you are dealing with all along your sourcing, production and distribution chain. “Do your due diligence for experience, track record, reputation,” on everyone involved with your brand, including distributors and licensees, Kupperman said. Ask around, visit the factories/businesses or hire someone to check up on them for you.
• Monitor your production and distribution chain. “Hop on a plane if you can and do an inspection,” Kupperman said. This, he acknowledged, can get pricey and time-consuming, but there are local firms and global firms that can do the legwork for you.
• Do your market research. “Scour the Internet to get a sense for who is selling your product,” Kupperman said. If Google isn’t your forte, there are firms you can hire. “A lot of times, companies don’t know how significant the problem is or isn’t,” he said.—Erin Barajas
Authorship : Apparelnews
