In late June, New York State (U.S.) gubernatorial candidate, Cynthia Nixon, of Sex and the City fame, criticized America’s Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) agency for the manner in which they were handling immigration on the U.S.’s southern border. She went as far as labeling the agency a “terrorist organization” and called for its abolishment.
I’m not here to debate whether or not Ms. Nixon makes a valid point. I’m not even here to debate U.S. immigration policy. But I do want to highlight that ICE does a lot more than enforce immigration law… and for that, we should be thankful.
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Topics:
Counterfeiting,
Intellectual Property,
In the Headlines,
Brand Protection & Enhancement
This past Christmas I made the decision to purchase a Yeti travel mug for my wife. I had heard great things about Yeti products and their performance and thought she might enjoy using it during her daily commute. I carefully researched the type of mug I wanted to purchase, along with the price and made the purchase through Amazon. Mug arrives, wife’s happy, end of story, right? Wrong.
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Topics:
Counterfeiting,
Product Authentication,
Online Brand Protection,
In the Headlines,
Brand Protection
Product authenticity is a problem in the olive oil industry.If you're running a business that sells or processes olive oil, or a restaurant that utilizes it often, then chances are you've bought a watered-down mixture at some point. Product authenticity has actually become a significant problem in the olive oil industry. The problem boils down to a discrepancy between what companies say they are offering, and what they are actually distributing.
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Topics:
Counterfeiting,
Product Authentication,
Consumer Goods,
Brand Protection,
Security Labels
As soon as Thanksgiving comes around, sales abound, and retailers are offering deep discounts to encourage consumers to buy gifts for loved ones. Counterfeiters are also aware that this is the easiest time to scam consumers—even the most educated consumers are less suspicious of discounted prices during this time of year.
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Topics:
Counterfeiting,
Online Brand Protection,
Intellectual Property,
Brand Protection
The global market for illicit cigarettes has sunk its teeth into supply chains around the world - though substantially more so in some areas than others - and ongoing counterfeit tobacco trade could be costing some governments up to €1 billion ($1.09 billion) annually.
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Topics:
Counterfeiting,
Product Authentication,
Tax Stamps,
Government Protection,
Hot Stamp Foils
While counterfeiting is seen as a relatively minor problem in Australia, recent research from the Reserve Bank of Australia shows that it is actually quite significant, particularly for small businesses.
Initially the data compiled by researchers appears to support the belief that counterfeiting isn't much of an issue in Australia.
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Topics:
Counterfeiting,
In the Headlines
An Ohio man was recently charged with distributing counterfeit drugs he had obtained from China and India.
Tamacio Walls was caught selling a number of erectile dysfunction pills he had acquired through unauthorized means, and as a result, could end up serving hard time. The boxes containing the shipments of illicit medications were mislabeled.
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Topics:
Counterfeiting,
Product Authentication,
Pharmaceuticals,
In the Headlines,
Brand Protection
Do you have a few wrinkles that you'd like to get rid of? Well, according to a recent Food and Drug Administration warning, if you decide on getting Botox you could have problems worse than crow's feet.
The FDA recently warned doctors that a counterfeit make of the drug popularly used to clear wrinkles from people's faces has made its way into the U.S.
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Topics:
Counterfeiting,
Health and Beauty,
Pharmaceuticals,
In the Headlines,
Brand Protection
If surfers love the ocean, if chefs love the kitchen, if Americans love Taylor Swift, then counterfeiters love the Dark Web.
The Dark Web is where counterfeiters and other criminals have developed a thriving marketplace full of illicit products. It is a segment of the web that, though publicly viewable, is characterized by hidden IP addresses, which makes it difficult to track who or where users are.
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Topics:
Counterfeiting,
Online Brand Protection,
In the Headlines,
Brand Protection
Fifteen surgeons and even more hospitals nationwide have been named in allegations that they were involved in a counterfeit spinal hardware ring.
A civil complaint obtained by America Tonight showed that patients received non-FDA approved spinal hardware as a result of the counterfeiters' actions,
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Topics:
Counterfeiting,
In the Headlines,
Brand Protection,
Medical Devices
