Spotlight on: Trademark In Use and Intellectual Property Investigations

This week we take a look at how Online Investigations assists in Trademark In Use and Intellectual Property Investigation.

For new readers of our blog, and those who may not have utilised the services of Online Investigations before, they may not be aware of the employment history of the company Director, Julia Robson.

Prior to starting her own business in Australia, Julia was a Corporate Investigator in the United Kingdom and responsible for investigating instances of Trademark, Brand and Intellectual Property investigation.

2006: Julia Robson posing undercover in Florence, Italy as a fashion buyer assistant

She regularly undertook “grey market” investigations which was the investigation of businesses who legally had contracts to sell goods in a designated local area, but were then stepping outside of their contracts to sell overstock into neighbouring Countries.

Additional examples of the types of cases she investigated included:

• Working for high market brands such as Burberry, undertaking investigations at Trade Fairs and local markets to obtain evidence of trademark infringement and counterfeit goods;
• Working undercover posing as a Fashion Buyer in Italy to obtain evidence of local manufacturers

  stepping outside of their contracts and overselling stock into United Kingdom (“Grey Market” investigations);

• Undertaking Trademark In Use investigations to determine whether a trademark was currently in use, or the last date of use;
• Establishing what a Trademark had been registered for if there was no current evidence of use;
• Undertaking discreet purchases of domain names and trademarks so the owner was not aware of the true buyer (and was not inclined to ask for a higher price).  This is also referred to as domain name acquisition and trademark acquisitions;
• Undertaking Brand Protection and Market Surveys to understand how individuals and other companies perceive a brand;
• Undertaking trap purchases to obtain information as to the supply chain and true manufacturer/seller; and
• Undertaking online based investigations to verify who the true owner of a domain site / online seller was.

Today, Online Investigations Pty Ltd has a strong success rate for investigating Trademark In Use and Intellectual Property Infringements.  If you have concerns about your own brand, or are looking to launch your own product, let Online Investigations Pty Ltd help you with the complexities you may be facing.

If you would like to know more about our services in this area visit:

• Trademark in Use Investigation
• Brand Protection
• Domain name Acquisition