Many organizations include a contract clause relating to the treatment of Intellectual Property upon the termination of employment. However, too many of us fail to protect our brands and businesses from Intellectual Property counterfeiting in everyday situations.

Why is Intellectual Property Important?
For many organizations, brand and reputation are the most important assets. Businesses run and expand using the knowledge held by employees, otherwise known as Intellectual Property. This Intellectual Property comes under threat in a number of different ways, from the sharing of contacts and databases to the production of replica products.

Flouting of Intellectual Property can be damaging to an organization in a number of ways, and in particular, in the devaluing or cheapening of the product or service you are providing. In most cases, it is not only confusing for your target market, but can also threaten their wellbeing where products such as medicine or car parts are poorly counterfeited at a lower quality.

Protecting Intellectual Property
As the protection of Intellectual Property becomes more of an issue, laws and regulations are being more strictly enforced in some areas, however it is important for organisations to be proactive. It is crucial for brands to reduce the threat to their brands, protecting their patents, copyrights, trademarks and other assets and where necessary engaging law firms and in-house counsels to do so. This is particularly important where product counterfeiting is a concern, as many of those suspected of this activity have links to organised crime and even extremist groups.

Regents’ Approach
Regents has extensive experience in tackling and resolving various brand protection issues. Our services include the following:

• Market surveys, market monitoring and evidence collection
• Inquiries into the rogue registration of patents and trademarks
• Intellectual related intelligence gathering
• Counterfeiting manufacturing, distribution and sale investigations
• Arranging of multiple raid actions by authorities for counterfeit activity plus forensic examination of seized computers or smart phones
• Intellectual Property background screening of external product manufacturers, suppliers and distributors
• Investigation into internet based sales and distribution of counterfeit brands and product