SEPTEMBER 2017 VOLUME 2 | NUMBER 3

This edition brings together three articles on widening the net of liability and enforcement strategies. All three recognize that counterfeiters do not work alone but are enabled by others. Laws and regulations have fallen short in acknowledging the liability of the enablers. Brand owners have pushed new legal challenges and target strategies for new victories against the enablers of counterfeiting. One new approach yielding results is taking on property owners. In our story on counterfeits and landlord liability, C. Erik Johansson and Dorian Mazurkevich of the U.S. Patent and Trade Office discuss several legal strategies that brand owners may use against landlords who provide places of business for counterfeiters. In our story, “Property Owner Liability: Why Brand Owners and Law Enforcement Should Involve Property Owners in Counterfeit and Piracy Investigations”, Kevin Gilligan of the Los Angeles City Attorney’s office reviews some best practices from that city’s anti-counterfeit enforcement program that might be applied elsewhere. Another new strategy is “California’s TRaCE the Money Program”, described by David Bass of the California Department of Justice. This program uses a cross-agency fusion approach to investigate and prosecute counterfeiters.  
 
Let’s continue to widen the net!