Illegal use of legitimate companies’ brands, trademarks, and product has increased exponentially and become very sophisticated in the process. Pinkerton Consulting and Investigations has worked with many top global firms in various market sectors (pharmaceutical, electronic goods, automotive, luxury or fashion brands, sports brands, consumer packaged goods) in significantly reducing this major problem.

Pinkerton has found that this illegal use can come in many forms of which these are the most prevalent:

• Counterfeiting - unlawful reproduction
• Diversion - unlawful product sales or distribution
• Co-opting - unlawful misrepresentation of ownership or agency

This disturbing trend hurts not only a company’s profit margin but also its worldwide brand reputation and could possibly open up issues of product liability among a host of other ills that come from this form of illicit commerce.

The images of back alley sales of shoddy quality, knock-off products are a thing of the past. Your brand can be attacked half a world away by a globe-spanning, fully integrated, sophisticated illegal operation that has a distribution network that may rival your own in terms of efficiency and profitability.

As an example: Pinkerton Consulting and Investigations have found that a “counterfeit” luxury brand product was actually from the same factory that makes the original brand product during business hours. The illegal operation was conducted during off-hours of the factory thus the product quality, packaging, etc. were exactly the same.

With this level of sophistication and complexity, you need to have Pinkerton to guide you through the process of defeating any efforts at illegally using your brand, trademark, and product. Pinkerton Consulting and Investigation has a worldwide network of investigators who are trained and experienced in protecting intellectual property rights. Pinkerton’s emphasis is to identify the counterfeited products, trace it back to its source and channels, while documenting the whole process for ease of prosecution with the local or national police agencies.

Here are some of the services that Pinkerton offer under Intellectual Property (Brand) Protection:

Strategic Assessment Planning and Consulting
As the first stage of a successful brand protection program, we provide strategic assessment planning and consulting. This overview of client manufacturing and distribution operations maps out all elements of the manufacturing process from the purchasing of raw product, through the distribution cycle, to waste scrap and product management.

Education and Awareness
Pinkerton's education and awareness materials inform employees about protecting your company's products, thus integrity. Through multimedia and printed materials, our campaigns target workplace audiences with a comprehendible, educational, and proactive approach to global brand protection.

Authentication and Logistics Security
Pinkerton gives clients a unique and powerful means to identify, authenticate, and track their products . With resources located throughout the world, we track goods in all links of the supply chain. Employing the latest proprietary technologies, cargo recovery, asset management programs, and warranty and claims analysis. Utilizing the most up-to-date science, we will help to measure adulteration, dilution and establish proof of ownership for a vast array of products.

Monitoring eCommerce and Traditional Commerce
Throughout Pinkerton's history, we have conducted sophisticated surveillance and undercover operations specializing in identifying counterfeit and transshipped products around the world. With the rapid growth of business transactions via the Internet, Pinkerton has responded by expanding its commerce monitoring to include eCommerce. Our monitoring capabilities assist corporations in not only tracking down counterfeit and gray market product, but also in conducting business intelligence, verifying distributor product license and prices, and monitoring auction sites.

Workplace Compliance Monitoring
Pinkerton offers workplace compliance monitoring for clients whose operations are dispersed throughout the world. Dedicated to protecting the integrity of our clients' workforces, we monitor organizations for compliance with the global standards prohibiting harassment or abuse; forced labor; child labor; and, customs, regulatory, and environmental compliance.

Investigations & Enforcement
Our investigative capabilities include surveillance, undercover, sightings, interviews, background investigations and computer forensics. Pinkerton investigators coordinate the implementation of court-sanctioned search and seizure operations - including closing illegal manufacturing sites and stopping retailers who are trafficking counterfeit merchandise.

Litigation Support
We provide a wide range of reliable, confidential legal support services including assessment of expert witnesses; witness re-location; and, pre/post-judgment asset tracing. Not only are our investigators schooled in litigation support techniques, they are also trained to provide credible, expert testimony when called before the court.