Imitation Nation

Show notes - Imitation Nation #18

In this episode, we cover:

The International Trademark Association published a quick 14 page handout on making the case for Return on Investment for your company’s anticounterfeiting program.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) last week announced the seizure of 4.7 million units of unauthorized e-cigarette products with an estimated retail value of $86.5 million – the largest-ever seizure of this kind. The seizures were part of a joint federal operation in Chicago to examine incoming shipments and prevent illegal e-cigarettes from entering the country. And simultaneous enforcement actions across the U.S. The seizures, done in conjunction with the Food and Drug Administration, with enforcement actions carried out at five distributors and five retailers in North Carolina, Arizona, Illinois, New Jersey, Georgia and Florida, she said.

Puma’s enormous legal victory in German court against a logistics provider for providing logistics for a counterfeiter. It’s a big case, but the key is that it creates new liability for logistics carriers that we didn’t think existed before.

Quick news hits:

• 2,500 shipping containers seized by Greek law enforcement
• Temu Agrees to $2M Civil Penalty and Injunction for Alleged Violations of the INFORM Consumers Act
• Korean Intellectual Property Office boosts 2026 budget to enhance K-brand protection
• High-quality counterfeit  $CAD100 bills circulating in Simcoe County Canada, police warn. But Bank of Canada posted a full review of security features on YouTube, which could almost be seen as a how to guide for forgers. 
• DOJ and DHS Launch Cross-Agency Trade Fraud Task Force
• Fake Labubu dolls described as 'most dangerous counterfeit toys ever seized'

In this episode, we cover:

• Interview with Amazon CCU 
• Counterfeit Lamborghini Drinks 
• Researchers develop new sensor to ‘detect counterfeit medicine’ 
• 32,000 pounds of meat products recalled due to false USDA inspection marks. 
• Counterfeit perfume on Walmart’s platform. Attorney General Nessel Announces Felony Charges Following FORCE Team Counterfeit Product Seizures

If you have a story you want us to cover, let us know in the comments on our linkedin page.

On this week’s episode of Imitation Nation, we discuss one of the biggest trade policy shifts in years: the end of De Minimis, which officially expired at midnight through an Executive Order. This sudden end to a decades old policy is sending ripple effects through supply chains, as freight companies, freight forwarders and Post Offices across the globe are temporarily suspending or stopping shipments to the United States.

We explore what this seismic change means for global commerce and we highlight the positive outcomes for brand protection, brand owners, trademark holders and how this will likely provide lasting impacts on counterfeit enforcement. We also discuss the ripple effects across supply chains, and the strategic implications for professionals on the frontlines of IP enforcement.

We also cover the sudden termination of the controversial Type 86 entry pilot program, which has resulted in the exponential growth in small parcel and De Minimis shipments. Beyond the headlines, we look at where counterfeiters may move next and why this shift,
though disruptive, could ultimately create a stronger, more resilient landscape for legitimate commerce and be a game changer for Brand Protection.

This White House has made big changes to De Minimis: For a look at the scale of packages, check out this CBS News piece. We cover the impact on counterfeit medicines, especially fake fentanyl pills, and techniques that companies might start to use to circumvent tariff uncertainty.

The Trump trademark owners have complained about ecommerce platforms selling counterfeit versions of Trump-branded products and filed litigation.

We also talk about a machine that makes counterfeit pills, the pill press, and a recent report the Partnership for Safe Medicines published about illegal pill presses.

And there’s a lot of shout out stories this week we don’t have time to go into fully:

• Counterfeit Labubu toys

• $3.5mm seized in Port of Cincinnatti

• Fentanyl analogues finally got scheduled after 6 years of work

• Brandy Melville sues Temu after suing Shein

• Really good looking fake $100’s

• Amazon’s counterfeit crimes unit is claiming they’ve secured $180mm in penalties and 65 criminal convictions.

Operation Pangea 17 from Interpol was released. See this fancy graphic.

Sven looked back at the previous 10 years of Operation Pangea and these results are record breaking by any measure.

• 50.4 million doses of illicit pharmaceuticals worth USD 65 million. The largest operation to date had been $11 million in illicit medicines.

• Arrest of 769 suspects and the dismantling of 123 criminal groups worldwide.

• In total, law enforcement agencies worldwide launched 1,728 investigations and issued 847 search warrants targeting criminal networks engaged in the illicit distribution of pharmaceutical products. 93 per cent of the illicit pharmaceuticals seized lacked regulatory approvals from national health authorities.

This trend is being driven by the widespread promotion and availability of these medicines across social media and online marketplaces, creating lucrative and relatively low-risk opportunities for criminal networks selling low-quality or counterfeit products.

Lululemon is suing Costco over design patent infringement of several of their clothing products. While you could read the suit yourself, we recommend this video from fashion designer Joe Ng that explains the types of patents you can have, and how trade dress works. Joe Ng says the craftsmanship is not as good on the Costco product.

China is now entering the world of IP protection because their brands are fighting off fakes. China has brands and now Intellectual Property to protect! Phones by Huawei, Drones by DJI, My favorite portable batteries from Anker, and New electric cars from BYD.

According to the OECD, China remains the source of most counterfeits in the world, so this could be a very topsy turvy time. Our bottom line is that there’s never bad news in adding a new ally country to the world of brand protection.

Quick news hits:

• 9 great documentaries on counterfeits and illegal trade from Factual America

• Issues in the fake wine world in Bill Koch’s cellar

• Chinese controlled counterfeit gang busted.

Tom’s hardware review ran an article this week about a chinese pc repair shop that received four of these, and upon closer examination, three of them were fake and unrepairable and unusable. They had modified older cards and in some cases attached other parts to give the appearance of the 4090 unit but the fake one was still inoperable which you would have discovered the moment you plugged it in.

StockX has reported it rejected nearly $10 million worth of counterfeit sneakers last year as part of a comprehensive report outlining its efforts on verification, fraud prevention and anti-counterfeiting in 2024. The resale platform's "Brand Protection and Consumer Trust" report consists of 19 pages detailing the measures it takes to ensure it delivers authentic product to consumers. Over the course of 2024, StockX rejected more than 30,000 sneakers alone suspected of being counterfeit. Suspected fakes are the second most common reason for products being rejected, accounting for 22 percent of total products rejected. 32 percent of items were rejected for defects, while 12 percent were found to be used and another 7 percent came in a damaged box.

We are following this new case of Audi AG v. CarParts.com, Inc., 1:25-cv-04940 (S.D.N.Y.), in which Audi asserts that CarParts.com is selling copies of their goods using their trademarks, including proprietary OEM numbers. We think it’s also interesting that the EU Court of Justice also found that selling grills without the Audi logo, but that have a cutout that fits the logo, is also trademark infringement.

Quick news hits:

Another fake money scheme in Florida, where four men obtained $100 fake bills made by bleaching $10 bills and printing the $100 bill over the same material. You could still see Hamilton’s face in the watermark, which tipped off a grocery cashier.

Labubu dolls are a hot item, which means counterfeits are being made and China just shut down a factory making them. As a response the other factories making fakes appear to have shut down operations and gone dark to avoid getting caught.

Back on the fake stamps beat, the US Postal Service filed and obtained a temporary restraining order against two shipping companies New York and Los Angeles who are accused of using fake USPS shipping labels to ship merchandise for Chinese customers through the US Postal service…for years.