Combating Counterfeiting: Collaborating With Competitors, Customers and Online Operators

Counterfeiting is a global economic force with counterfeiters around the world illegally reproducing brands and products to sell goods across the globe and costing businesses billions of dollars each year. It is often daunting for a brand owner to investigate alleged counterfeiting, especially in locations where it is not considered a serious crime.

Most companies have serious budget limitations that impact their brand protection program. Operating within those limitations in an efficient way to maximize the ROI is paramount to an effective program. Many companies do not realize the issue is online, not hard four wall stores or even factories except in rare instances. It is the anti-counterfeit model which needs to be constantly modified to keep up with online issues. Failure to do that will result in failure to adequately protect a brand.

Counterfeiting is an industry problem, and brand owners should band together to combat the problem and find solutions. However, there are risks when collaborating with competitors, including antitrust concerns, protecting trade secrets and oversharing information. Brand owners should also consider working with customers, online operators and others to battle counterfeiting. For example, Alibaba allied with many brands to battle counterfeiting and protect their respective brands. In 2018 the Alibaba anti-counterfeiting alliance seized over $536 million in counterfeit goods.

Listen as our authoritative panel of IP attorneys examines collaboration with competitors, customers and others to battle counterfeiters. The program will address the importance of working with business competitors and the roadblocks and risks for companies deciding whether to collaborate. The program will also examine working with downstream customers and online operators to fight counterfeiting.

1. Collaborating with competitors to battle counterfeiting
2. Collaborating with customers to battle counterfeiting
3. Collaborating with online operators to battle counterfeiting
4. Considerations when collaborating
   1. Antitrust concerns
   2. Protecting trade secrets and confidential information
5. Best practices

The panel will review these and other critical questions:

• What factors should companies consider when deciding to collaborate with competitors? What are the risks of collaborating?
• What are the limitations on exchanging information when collaborating with competitors? What activities should competitive collaborators avoid?
• What safeguards should companies implement to mitigate the risks of collaborating with competitors, customers and online operators?