How Some Brands are Successfully – and Cost-Effectively – Combating Online Counterfeiters

Unified’s Samuel Baird and Noel Paterson examine how some well-known brands are fighting off online counterfeit sales and winning the war against fakes. The article was published by IPWatchdog.com on October 13, 2022.

Protecting brands and going after counterfeiters is like herding cats. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of ways that online counterfeiters illegally monetize brands. Companies have many ways to combat them, but it can traditionally take lots of time, cost, and resources to do it. Now there is a less publicized option in the United States which can deter counterfeiters, takes little time, and often even pays for itself. This ultimately can result in true deterrence of counterfeiters for a brand in online marketplaces. With online sales exploding, there has been a marked increase in sales of counterfeit products, despite various solutions available to combat it. Indeed, the industry as a whole will see over $1.7 trillion of sold counterfeit products on various online platforms each year—and that estimate, by the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition, was in 2015. Counterfeit sales result in the loss of millions of U.S. jobs and lost profits, and is by far the world’s largest criminal enterprise, with eCommerce counterfeit sales expected to grow to $6 trillion by 2024 in the United States alone.

“Overall, the number of filed eTROs (emergency Temporary Restraining Orders) has increased 70% from 2019 to 2021, representing a 72.8% increase in filings in a short period.”

Click HERE to read the entire article posted on IPWatchdog.com.

PacSec3 '190 networking patent successfully challenged

On October 5, 2022, the USPTO issued a final rejection of all challenged claims of U.S. Patent 6,789,190, owned by PacSec3, an NPE. PacSec3 was formed in 2020 with NACAR IP LLC as its managing member. NACAR IP was also formed in early 2020 with Dynamic IP Deals, LLC (d/b/a DynaIP), a patent monetization company, identified as its managing member. The ‘190 patent had been asserted against F5 Networks, NetScout Systems, Palo Alto Networks, McAfee, Cisco, and Juniper Networks.

View district court litigation by PacSec3. Unified is represented by Jon Bowser, Raghav Bajaj, and Angela Oliver of Haynes and Boone, LLP, and by in-house counsel, Roshan Mansinghani and Jordan Rossen.

To view any documents for the reexamination proceedings on Unified's Portal, go to https://portal.unifiedpatents.com/exparte/90014756.

We Are Hiring! Unified seeks Full Stack Developer

Unified Patents is a private, subscription-based company that is disrupting the patent market. The team is searching for a full stack web developer who can develop both client and server software preferably in the Bay Area.

Responsibilities include working on both the back-end infrastructure and front-end Web UIs of various projects. Design, implement and maintain scalable APIs. Build and maintain data pipelines and schedulers to provide precise and up-to-date data to customers. Translate designer mock-ups and wireframes into efficient front-end code. Discover and optimize performance bottlenecks across existing infrastructure hosted on cloud services.

The position requires a bachelor's or master’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering or a related field. Unified provides competitive compensation and benefits as well as a flexible work environment. For more details about the position and instructions on how to apply, view the full job listing.

Click here to apply

Canon and Unified Brands Announce Total Success in Suit Against Over 50 Foreign Counterfeiters

Unified Brands, in partnership with Canon, is pleased to report the conclusion of another successful trademark infringement action against over 50 online counterfeiters.  

After filing suit on April 12, 2022 to deter foreign counterfeiters, the Court concluded the case in a default order in favor of Canon. The default judgment order awarded damages to Canon for the improper sale of counterfeit goods infringing Canon's intellectual property.

Unified Brands partners with companies that respect the intellectual property of other companies and individuals and remains committed to pursuing legal enforcement against those who do not respect the intellectual property of Unified Brands’ partners.  This is just the most recent effort against infringers in Unified’s ongoing efforts to deter counterfeit product sales.

Read the complaint and decision below.

Dominion Harbor entity, Sovereign Peak Ventures, patent held invalid

On October 3, 2022, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) issued a final written decision in Unified Patents, LLC v. Sovereign Peak Ventures, LLC holding all challenged claims of U.S. Patent 9,042,457 unpatentable. Owned by Sovereign Peak Ventures, a Dominion Harbor entity, the ’457 patent relates to video processing and has been asserted against LG, TCL, Hisense, ASUSTek, and HP.

View district court litigations by Sovereign Peak Ventures. To read the petition and view the case record, see Unified’s Portal. Unified is represented by in-house counsel, Jordan Rossen, Ashraf Fawzy, and Roshan Mansinghani, in this proceeding.