There have been some exciting additions to the agenda of the Anti-Counterfeitng World Law Summit that is now just two weeks away, including Paul Dicken, director of brand protection at Liverpool FC, who will discuss what the iconic club does to protect its revenue and reputation.

Liverpool FC will join other household names for the London summit, which is hosted by Global Legal Post, on 18 October, including Amazon, eBay, Mattel and Philip Morris, whose senior executives will share with delegates the strategies they rely on to fight the scourge of counterfeiting.

Mattel for one has had “Kenough” with infringing and counterfeiting, according to the programme description, following the release of its Barbie movie, which became the film of the summer. Head of intellectual property, content and brands for Mattel, Michael Moore, will discuss how Mattel has “beached off” the bad guys with Mattel outside counsel Jason M. Drangel, of Epstein Drangel.

Vexing brand protection efforts has been the rise of a handful of trends like hidden links and the emergence of ‘dupe influencers’. Hidden links are used to evade marketplace policies and restrictions on the sale of illegal products but after a scan of various social media platforms and sharing sites, they are often hiding in plain sight.  

In recent years, the term ‘dupe’ has taken on a new meaning and some individuals have made a career of promoting what are actually counterfeit goods to consumers.

Lipkus Law’s Lorne M Lipkus and Melissa J. Tarsitano will offer some valuable insights into how to spot emerging trends in this constantly evolving landscape.

Other sessions will banish the misconception that buying counterfeiting products is somehow a victimless crime, highlighting the real danger it presents to public health and safety. Speakers will also focus on how serious organised crime groups are at the heart of many counterfeiting activities.

Patterson Belknap partner Geoffrey Potter and head of anticounterfeiting and brand protection for Gilead Sciences, Lori Mayall, will present a case study of a criminal ring that sold more than $250m of counterfeit antiviral medication to US pharmacies nationwide. As the top anti-counterfeiting executive at Gilead, Mayall will also speak about the pharma giant’s brand protection programme and related challenges facing the pharmaceutical industry.

The summit will also feature head of intelligence analysis at the UK’s Intellectual Property Office, Eve Alexander, who will examine the sweeping changes in the counterfeiting landscape over the past decade. Ahead of the conference, she talked to Global Legal Post about how counterfeiting is not just linked to the abuse of the economy but to the abuse of people too.

The spotlight will be on anti-counterfeiting in Africa for a panel discussion featuring Guillaume Doane, director at communications agency 35°Nord, Richard Amalvy, chief executive of the Brazzaville Foundation, and Iain McLeod, brand protection anti-counterfeit manager at Diageo. The panel will be moderated by Forward Global consultant Alexandra Willis and also feature her colleague, Vincent Helluy, who is head of illicit trade risk management – content and brand protection.

In an interview with GLP last month, Helluy stressed that brands can have a lot of success in Africa so long as they have a footprint there.

Sustainable disposal is another hot topic: ensuring that all falsely branded goods that are processed never return to the market but also relieves the heavy burden on customs administrations to dispose of counterfeit goods.

Senior partner at law firm Cervieri Monsuarez, Dr Virginia Cervieri, and legal director of Colgate-Palmolive’s Northern Europe hub, Surender Sharma, will discuss disposal methods, such as closed loop recycling, and how such methods can also offer financial benefits for companies.

The complete agenda can be found here. Click here to secure a delegate place, or email [email protected].