Brand Protection Stories

3D printing has ushered in new challenges of safeguarding intellectual property. As it continues to revolutionize manufacturing and prototyping, concerns of unauthorized reproduction and counterfeiting have surged. Creators, businesses, and industries at large, have become vulnerable to its capabilities.  Join us in this thought-provoking episode as we explore the dynamic capacities of 3D printing innovation and discuss the pivotal role of labeling technology as an effective deterrent.

The dawn of a new year reveals fresh challenges in safe guarding the IP world. Please join us as we explore the dynamic landscape of IP protection. We will dissect the ongoing changes influenced by advancing technologies, government participation, and the strategic use of open-source software. Furthermore, our discussion will intricately navigate the distinctive path from dentistry to small business ownership, shedding light on the complexities involved in safeguarding individual inventions through effective IP protection.

Illicit trade expert Andres Diaz speaks about parallel trade schemes, black market, “adulteration” or counterfeiting, in the agricultural space - which he believes is the least known and most difficult to measure of the categories. We learn about counterfeit pesticides and seeds and the damage they cause. Andres introduces us specifically to crimes committed in the Latin American region that include illegal labs, and insider sources with knowledge and skills that enable the production and trafficking counterfeit products - many of which make it into the legitimate supply chain resulting in dire consequences.

Singer, piano player, small town cop and firefighter, field training officer, investigator, state special agent and ultimately a brand protection professional, Jason Daniels takes us through how he discovered intellectual property crimes and how it came to be a career in which he has flourished. In this episode Jason walks through an IP case involving core detective work, with a little performance, and sprinkles some of his southern storytelling to provide valuable education on brand protection.

Jason Kosofsky has spent most of his professional career in the auto industry, serving as a lead investigator in many precedent setting cases. In the telling of his stories, we’re reminded that every component on a car has a safety purpose making even the seemingly innocuous part capable of harm – even hub caps. Take a ride to hear about counterfeiters supplying their fake parts to NYC taxi and limousine services, and how Jason and others in the collaborative brand protection community, work to keep automobiles a safe mode of our daily transportation.

Denise Mosteller and Jeremiah Pastrick take us through the process of gathering the “right” evidence, determining the “right” opportunity, and working with existing laws to put together a formidable case dossier against a counterfeiter of ballistic eyewear. Such a case requires the enlistment and support of the brand, state prosecutors and law enforcement (in multiple states). Listen, and be in the tradeshow booth when the counterfeiter is very publicly arrested and put into handcuffs.

Josh Hopping introduces us to the world of open-source online investigations or OSINT. Though the information used to piece together a case may be publicly available, it still has to be found, deciphered and many times combined with on-the-ground investigations to bring a successful case against counterfeiters. Find out how the cases (stories) come together from a technology patent holder and published author in the brand protection space.

If you’re interested in sponsoring episodes of Brand Protection Stories, please contact A-CAPP Director Kari Kammel at kkammel@msu.edu.

Kari Kammel has been Assistant Director of Outreach for A-CAPP for the last seven years. In that capacity, she has been responsible for the Center’s education programming, student internship program and placement, and heads the outreach to brand protection stakeholders. During her tenure, Kari has maintained an active research agenda on legal issues pertaining to trademark counterfeiting, U.S. state and federal law, e-commerce and social media liability for trademark counterfeiting, public international and intellectual property legal issues, and the impact of culture in the Middle East on intellectual property and trademark enforcement. Kari now takes over the helm of the A-CAPP Center as Director. Listen to her unique journey in establishing rule of law in Middle Eastern war-torn countries post 9/11, coordinating international collaborations and understandings, international human rights work and how she came to the A-CAPP Center to focus on brand protection, drawing from her expansive global experiences. Hear her story and prepare to be impressed.

Attorney Deborah Greaves takes us into the workings of brand protection in the fashion industry. Stories of the challenges in protecting the True Religion Jeans brand were many and included elaborate schemes of cargo and internal-insider theft, both of which resulted in diversion of product to unauthorized outlets. The brand also faced a unique challenge with its trademark, which prevented the Made-in-the-USA brand from being properly protected against counterfeiters.