This is a complaint Philip Morris brought against six grocery stores and ten John Does, for selling counterfeit cigarettes. What's interesting is how the Court will handle the joinder of these defendants - I did not see allegations in the complaint of any sort of connection between them (apart from the allegation that they all sell counterfeit cigarettes).
A John Doe complaint filed by LiveNation, licensee for Jay Z, in anticipation of a Jay Z concert in Massachusetts.
UPDATE: In the comment below a reader asks: Does the law really permit the filing of such a speculative case, against unknown persons for conjectural future alleged infringement?
And the answer is: the law permits the filing of a case against describable but presently unknown persons for anticipated describable future infringement, of a type where a law enforcement officer can make an on-the-scene determination that something is very likely an infringement.
A policy rationale for a John Doe seizure is that without on-the-spot seizure, the TM owner will suffer irreparable harm, as immediately following the event, the defendant and their proceeds will vanish, thus making an after-the-fact lawsuit purposeless. John Doe seizures are granted usually in connection with short-lived events such as sporting championships or concerts, where unincorporated, premise-less entities possessing small inventories (also known as kids holding duffel bags of shirts) are likely to offer counterfeit merchandise. The seizure order should contain sufficient specificity such that a marshall can make a determination whether a shirt constitutes a counterfeit, with a high degree of accuracy (for example, does the shirt bear the registered logo of the band, or not?). A court may blue-pencil plaintiff's requested parameters of the seizure with regard to what constitutes plaintiff's marks, vicinity and timing of permitted seizures. Bear in mind that if the seizure turns out to be unlawful, the vendor should be able to seek compensation from the plaintiff.
Umair Haque: "The Real Pirate Bay"
Set up a torrent tracker, get fined, go to jail.Join a bank, destroy the economy, profit.
Pro: Fox News Columnist Reportedly Fired for Wolverine Review
Con: Wolverine Piracy, Claws Grow
Pictured: A real wolverine.
IPCybercrime.com: The Knockoff Report
Rob Holmes is Founder & CEO of IPCybercrime.com. Raised in New Jersey in a family of private investigators, Rob worked his first trademark infringement case at the age of twelve. While aspiring as a stand-up comedian in Los Angeles in the early 90s, he found employment at a premiere intellectual property investigative firm. Here, he soon found himself assigned to investigate a new breed of faceless perpetrators: Cybercriminals. Rob conducted some of the world’s first IP-related Internet investigations, and pioneered the study of the “virtual crime scene”.
The mall in Nanjing, China, described here by Counterfeit Chic.
Jay-Z's Rocawear sues defendant, gets an order, defendant alleges breacehs settlement order, Rocawear sues again.
Lyrics to Roc Boys. GirlTalk does a great mash-up of this song.
Counterfeit Chic: "Online Watchdog":
Many luxury brands are increasing their online presence in an effort to boost sales -- especially this Cyber Monday. Omega instead took out a full page ad in today's WWD, advising shoppers to beware the internet lest they end up with watches that are counterfeit or otherwise substandard.
In case you wanted to learn the history of the Tootsie Roll Company, this complaint is reproduced below. Bonus question: spot the trademark that plaintiff mis-uses as a generic. Hint: it's something that babies wear.
ArsTechnica: "100 Groups Demand To See Secret Anticounterfeiting Treaty":
The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is on a fast-track process as rich nations hope to wrap it up by the end of the year. Unfortunately for everyone who cares about the outcome, it's midway through September, and no draft text has yet emerged. The secrecy and the delay have inspired many conspiracy theories, none helped by leaked sets of corporate "wish lists" and public comments making outrageous demands. A worldwide group of public interest organizations has now banded together to call on ACTA negotiators to open the process up to scrutiny and public comment.
TimesDaily.com: "'Purse Guy' gets two years in prison":
U.S. District Court Judge L. Scott Coogler sentenced a Florence man to 24 months in prison and ordered him to pay $136,089 in restitution Thursday for selling counterfeit purses and other goods.Dennis Oakley, 53, owner of two stores in the Shoals known as "The Purse Guy," pleaded guilty in July 2007 to three counts of trademark infringement for selling trademarked purses, wallets, jewelry, sunglasses and footwear that were counterfeits.
Design You Trust: "World's Most Counterfeited Fashion Brand"
Counterfeit Chic points out a somewhat ambiguous poster in China advising that the selling of fakes may constitute crime.
The Economist: "The Booming Trade in Fake Viagra, and Other Counterfeit Goods:
National Geographic show tonight, Illicit:
The world is under threat from a new kind of international crime wave: illicit trade in everything from knock-off Prada bags to bogus medicines, from dangerous weapons to humans themselves. While smuggling is nothing new, globalization has made it larger and far more ominous. The global value of this "dark trade" is estimated to reach a phenomenal ten percent of the world's trade. Since the 1990s it has been growing seven times faster than legal trade—and it's having profound consequences for the world's economy and for politics everywhere.
I'd invite you all over to watch but the wife is still angry about the way you behaved the last time.
PaperMag: "Murakami Sells Real LV Bags on the Street!"
As part of the exhibit, Murakami and LV will be placing eight "pocketbook" street vendors on the street in front of the museum selling REAL Vuitton bags that were specially designed by Murakami and LV for this particular piece.
NY Times: The Power of the Purse (Video of Deborah Solomon asking New Yorkers about designer handbags).
Gizmodo: "Media Player Knockoff Hall of Shame":
I just ventured into the bowels of the International Pavilion, a separate building beyond the North Hall that's home to tons of tiny booths of companies from Hong Kong, Taiwan and China. Basically, it's full of power supplies, shitty digital picture frames and knockoffs
CNN.COM: Court Orders Cartoon Characters To Witness Stand:
An Italian court ordered the animated bird, along with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and his girlfriend Daisy, to testify in a counterfeiting case.In what lawyers believe was a clerical error worthy of a Looney Tunes cartoon, a court in Naples sent a summons to the characters ordering them to appear Friday in a trial in the southern Italian city, officials said.
Counterfeit Chic: Knockoff News 73
Discourse.net: "Can Typosquatting Be Counterfeiting?"
"The story there is about Dell bringing a very large and organized case against a bunch of domain tasters (people who register domain names for a very brief period then drop them, so they don’t have to pay for them) who were apparently typosquatting on a grand scale.
What makes the story interesting is that Dell’s lawyers threw in a counterfeiting claim into their complaint. It’s artfully worded, but the essence of it is that the counterfeits are the domain names, and/or the act of putting up web sites at the domain names that have popups or pop-under ads."
WSJ.com: "Efforts to Quantify Sales of Pirated Goods Lead to Fuzzy Figures:
""It is virtually impossible to find accurate statistics to substantiate these perceptions" that counterfeiting is on the rise, the ICC author wrote.
The barriers to accurate data on piracy are clear: It's a shadowy business run by criminals."
Cigar Aficionado: Counterfeit Gallery.
Counterfeit Chic: "Knockoff News 70"
WSJ: Antipiracy Group Suffers Email Leak:
[O]ver the weekend, information about MediaDefender's efforts was splashed across the Internet via a leak of purported employee emails. Among the alleged revelations: the company was developing a Web site, MiiVii, that would allow people to upload and download copyright movies, TV shows and music. But when people installed it, the software could also secretly track people's activity and report back to MediaDefender.
Converting Magazine: "Role of Nanotechnology in Brand Protection"
"Using nanotechnology, companies can now apply covert information, such as batch information, directly onto products and packaging. They can, for example, encrypt nanoscale codes onto pharmaceutical pills for tracking and tracing. They can also create nano bar codes, which are invisible bar codes that are technologically complex but can be used to easily authenticate products and packaging. "
Tyra will do 'How to spot a fake." Set your Tivo accordingly, Here's the preview.
NY Times reports on the similarities bewteen Chinese carmaker Shuanghuan's CEO and BMW's SUV. Core 77 Design Site has discussed the economics of Chinese car 'counterfeiting' previously.
Counterfeit Chic: Knockoff News 63
The NY Countly Lawyers' Association Ethics Committee has advised that trademark lawyers may hire investigators who 'dissemble' while investigating trademark infringement, that is to say, give a false impression through deception, under narrowly defined circumstances ("Work for the trademark owner? Who me? Never heard of him. Now I'm going to need a receipt for this.")
Text of opinion here.
Counterfeit Chic: "Knockoff News 59"
Text of complaint in Gucci; Chloe and Alfred Dunhill v. MyReplicaHandbag.com et. al., SDNY, Mar 28, 2007, via Counterfeit Chic.
or is it improper if they don't donate? Leorra Herrmann reports.
You can get trapped in the basement of a store for two hours when the place is being raided.
From NY One:
"Hours after breaking up an alleged counterfeit ring operating out of a Chinatown store, police were surprised to get a call late Tuesday afternoon from shoppers trapped inside the store's basement.
Police say during a raid of a store on Centre Street Tuesday, the owners herded 12 shoppers into the basement and held them there for more than two hours.
“That's outrageous – even for New York,” said one New Yorker.
Unaware of the customers trapped in the basement, police arrested five people on trademark counterfeiting charges and collected hundreds of knockoff bags, sunglasses and wallets.
About two hours later, the trapped shoppers contacted police on their cell phones and said the shop owners had herded them into the basement when officers first showed up and told them to wait. "
Leora Hermann: "Insurer Required to Defend Alleged Counterfeiter"
New Yorker (march 19, 2007): "Bag Man" (Profile of Harley Lewin, head of trademarks at Greenberg Traurig) (no online version). Harley's proficiency with John Doe orders (honed while representing rock bands going against t-shirt counterfeitors) led to his being retained by Reebok, and the rest is history.
ArkansasBusiness.com: "New Zealand Manufacturer Gets Injunction Against Northwest Arkansas Group":
Rotoworks International Ltd., a New Zealand farm implement manufacturer, received a preliminary injunction Monday in a trademark infringement case involving a bait-and-switch scheme by a northwest Arkansas group.
In the lawsuit filed by the Henry Law Firm of Fayetteville, Rotoworks claimed the defendants — Grassworks USA LLC, Grassworks!!! LLC, Robert D. “Bobby” Umberson and Linda K. Reed — infringed on the federally registered Rotowiper trademark and violated several trademark laws by manufacturing copies of Rotoworks’ herbicide applicators, known generically as “weed wipers.”
Counterfeit Chic: Knockoff News 50
SD PETOSEVIC: "Fake NIKE Destroyed In Serbia."
"According to the Customs Authorities, one of the major obstacles to destruction was the lack of suitable facilities in Serbia for destroying plastics, rubbers and other similar materials in an environmentally friendly way . . . 13,000 pairs of counterfeit running shoes, bearing the trademarks of NIKE and DEISEL, were destroyed in one day at the State waste facilities. Instead of burning the running shoes, as was done in other countries, the shoes were cut into small pieces by a large machine used for destroying tires. The method had the approval of the Serbian Ministry of Environment, as is required under the law."
English translation of Serbia's Trademark Law.
Manufacturing Talk: "Holographic Labels For Security":
"An ex-fashion model, Rodrigo Otazu's move into jewellery has been embraced by a number of celebrities, including Britney Spears, who have worn his designs. The brand's success has not gone unnoticed by counterfeiters, and when fake Otazu jewellery began to appear in non-authorised outlets such as market stalls and eBay, the company decided to find a way of authenticating genuine products."
According to this website, quoting The Economist, 70% Of China's Internet Bandwidth is used for the transfer of pirated films. HT IP Dragon, which also notes that in China, counterfeitors are putting 'special trademarks' on their counterfeits, to prevent counterfeitors from copying the copies (??).
Wall St Journal today, page one (no free online version): "Gumshoe's Intuition: Spotting Counterfeits At Port Of Antwerp" (profile of the 'best counterfeit goods inspector in the world").
Via Counterfeit Chic, a copy of a complaint filed last week in the Southern District of New York, in which Louis Vuitton, Burberry, and other owners of well-known trademarks, sue a landlord of properties in Chinatown where counterfeits are allegedly sold.
Like.com performs image searches - you can use a photo of something, such as a watch (or a watch-face) as a search term. The benefit is apparent - as people do shop in real life for 'shoes that have red straps' and that sort of thing. The potential for knock-offs coming up in results seems apparent as well. I put in some famous trademarks, as well as words such as INSPIRED and STYLE, as search terms, and didn't see any clear-cut infringements. Go play with it and see what you find.
NY Times article on Like.com here.
Counterfeit Chic's latest edition of Knockoff News.
Florida IP litigator Leora Herrmann of the Kluger Peretz firm has debuted the Counterfeit Blog. Recent entries include a discussion of the CHEWY VUITON case, featuring Haute Diggity Dog.
Counterfeit Chic: "Saturday Morning Cartoons" (trademark related videos on YouTube)
Counterfeit Chic: "Steal This Post."
BusinessWeek: 'Fed Up With Fakes' (LVMH sues eBay).
Too many good links to single out one - just check out Counterfeit Chic's Knockoff News 33.
Funny when Caroline pulls the counterfeit golf club out of the counterfeit bag.
SASSICAIA was voted the wine of the century by people who vote on such things. So a printer in Tuscany reproduced the label on watermarked paper. Someone in Spain reproduced the special wrappings around the bottle's neck. A bottling company in Tuscany matched up Sassiciaia's green bottles. Someone found a similar Cabernet grape and blended in a wine that had a bouquet similar to that of SASSICAIA. Then enough fakes were produced to equal 12% of Sassicaia's annual production.
From: "Swell or Swill," in today's Wall Street Journal, on wine counterfeiting (no free online version available). Some discussion of preventative measures being taken, such as holograms, etc.
Counterfeic Chic reports that in Italy, buyers of counterfeit bags may be subject to fine (and the government provides info on how to spot fake bags).
From ReplicaWatchReport.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 14, 2006
IACC HOLDS ANNUAL FALL CONFERENCE IN DALLAS
Leading Experts to Discuss Anticounterfeiting Issues and Strategies
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition (IACC), the largest international organization devoted to combating product counterfeiting and piracy, will hold its 2006 Annual Fall Conference October 4-6 at the Adam’s Mark Hotel in Dallas, Texas.
Leaders in the anticounterfeiting field, including intellectual property lawyers, brand protection managers, private investigators and security managers, will discuss efforts to stop counterfeiting.
Rene Albury of the Software & Information Industry Association will be among the conference’s well-respected keynote speakers. Representatives from Authentix, Calvin Klein, General Motors, Seven For All Mankind, and many other leading brands will lead panel discussions.
Experts will share strategies and best practices during special break-out sessions and roundtables covering various industries affected by piracy – from automotive to luxury goods, from pharmaceuticals to electronics, and many more. Additional sessions will offer the latest efforts to fight counterfeiting in foreign countries.
Guests will also have an opportunity to meet with IACC’s new president, Nils Montan, former Vice President of Senior Intellectual Property Counsel at Warner Bros.
To register, download the registration form at www.iacc.org/Conferences.html.
Facts about the problem of counterfeiting:
- The problem has grown over 10,000 percent in the last 20 years.
- Counterfeit goods are estimated by the World Customs Organization to make up between 5 and 7 percent of all global trade.
- The profits from counterfeiting have been linked to funding organized crime, drug trafficking and terrorism.
- The estimated annual sales in counterfeit products worldwide is $600 billion.
- 68 percent of counterfeit goods (ranked in dollar value) seized by U.S. Customs originated in either China or Hong Kong in 2004.
About the IACC:
The International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition (IACC) is the largest international organization devoted solely to combating product counterfeiting and piracy. Comprised of a cross section of business and industry - from autos, apparel, luxury goods, and pharmaceuticals, to food, software and entertainment - the IACC's members' combined annual revenues exceed $650 billion. The IACC develops and conducts training for domestic and foreign law enforcement officials, submits comments on intellectual property enforcement laws and regulations in the United States and abroad and participates in regional and international programs aimed at improving intellectual property enforcement standards.
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WSJ (no free online version): "What happens when an eBay steal is a fake"("The counterfeit market has become a major headache for the luxury-product industry -- and for unwary consumers. Our reporter finds out what recourse people have when they buy fake goods through an online auction.")
Four out of the five designer items the reporter purchased for the article turned out to be certainly counterfeit and the last one probably was as well. Two sellers provided refunds, eBay provided partial refunds on two others.
The UK Tobacco Manufacturers' Association went through the trash at a UK racetrack and found that 6% of the cigarette packs they found were counterfeit. More here. HT IPKat.
IP Dragon: "Trailblazing MOU Between Luxury Brand Owners and Landlords" (Ageement signed between luxury brand companies (?) and Beijing landlords to evict tenants who repeatedly sell copied goods.)
Counterfeit Chic: 'Knockoff News'
International Herald Tribune: 'Next step in pirating: Faking a Company.'
Death in the Afternoon: Gray Market For Digital Goods?
New blog on fashion copycats, knock-offs and counterfeits, by IP law professor Susan Scafidi, who has never, she alleges, knowingly purchased a fake, except for research or educational purposes, of course: COUNTERFEIT CHIC. Good stuff - subscribed.
"Seeing Fakes, Angry Traders Confront EBay." Discussion of Tiffany v. EBay case re intermediate liability.
A case to read in the meantime: Fonovisa v. Cherry Auction, 76 F.3d 259 (9th Cir. Jan. 25, 1996).
Counterfeit ZIPPO lighters seized in Vietnam. Via VietNam News
