You have followed an interesting career path of being a solicitor and a sergeant in the Royal Military Police, as well as managing your company Brand Enforcement UK. What does a typical day hold for you and what kind of activities and initiatives are you involved in?

I’m sure it is the same for most people in today’s world, but no two days are the same. One day I could be drafting a Customs Intellectual Property Rights application, liaising with Trading Standards officers about suspect counterfeit products they have seized or carrying out product identification and collating data for our intelligence database, which we share via an intelligence sharing agreement we have with the UK Intellectual Property Office.

Another day, I could be liaising with other brand owners, sharing information and trying to pool resources to keep costs to a minimum for clients where the same target is suspected to be dealing in more than one brand. I am often found writing an article or pulling together information for press releases, etc. I have been involved in various TV programmes but prefer to stay out of the limelight myself.

I’ve been responsible for taking down infringing websites and thousands of Internet auctions. I’ve taken action against brothels utilizing one of our clients’ trademarks, I’ve prevented a nightclub from using our clients’ trademark to theme an evening; I’ve carried out undercover surveillance.

Your involvement in raids is very much the sharp end of intellectual property enforcement. What kind of preparation is needed ahead of a raid and at what point do you know if it has been successful? Have there been any dangerous moments, or does television over-dramatize these kind of situations?

I have been involved in many raids over the years, some less intense than others. Sometimes, you have market stall holders or shop owners who are aggressive, some are shocked and appear to be surprised when they are told the items you are seizing are counterfeit. I’ve been threatened and told to say that the goods are genuine, but it hardly fazes me really after 12 years in the Royal Military Police Territorial Army and a tour of duty of Iraq in 2004 when I found myself on the front line.

What have been the most unusual, most surprisingly mundane, and most serious/shocking fake products that you have come across during your work?

I have examined a wide variety of products over the years, including clothing and footwear, software, jewellery, handbags, shopping bags, sunglasses, blankets, duvet sets, curtains, rugs, beach towels, socks, thongs, men’s briefs, watches, hats, gloves, scarves, pyjamas, wallpaper borders, vehicle registration number plates, ashtrays, lighters, clocks, mirrors, wall art, posters, mobile phone accessories, toys, toy money, moneyboxes, fun stickers, car stickers, salt & pepper grinder, pillows, ceramic mugs, purses, wallets, belts, belt buckles, key rings, trolley tokens, shoe decorations, cufflinks, metallic badges, car mats, and the list goes on…

However, this Christmas, I was involved in a preventing a shipment of frozen food being delivered to the UK bearing the Taj trademark, which was so unique even Customs were not sure how to handle the situation. Suffice to say, whilst negotiations were ongoing with infringers, the frozen produce had to be kept refrigerated at great cost and as the goods were of such poor quality, it all had to be sent to landfill rather than our preferred method of taking it out of circulation: charitable donation.

We have been in a position to donate some infringing goods to charity on behalf of the Realtree brand lately. One instance involved the inadvertent interception of some infringing Realtree folding camp chairs by a company called CyberCheckout. As they were extremely co-operative, the chairs were handed over and it was decided that they would be donated to the International Aid Trust for the use by under privileged children in Eastern Europe. For more information, you can find a press release on our website at www.brandenforcement.co.uk/news .

We were also fortunate enough to make a similar donation of some infringing Realtree gunslips to the British American Foundation.

Prevention is better than cure. In your view, what are the key issues that developed nations like the UK, US and European countries need to address in order to rid counterfeits from their home markets?

I think a lot needs to be done about consumer awareness. So although an enforcement strategy needs to include reacting to stop the supply of goods, if brands empower the consumer so they can avoid making the wrong choice (unless they prefer and are intending to purchase cheaper fakes), it should also encompass an element of trying to quell the demand by consumers. One of our clients Oakley does this rather effectively by providing information on their website regarding authorized dealers and also a section where they can report fakes: www.oakley.com/report_fakes .

Looking forward, what are the most exciting initiatives that you see on the horizon to tackle counterfeits and protect IP?

One of the most exciting initiatives I have seen in the UK in the last few months is the Real Deal Initiative, the tag line of which states “working together for fake-free markets”. Markets are a haven for the sale of counterfeits, and until a few years ago, you might even be able to say a “safe haven” to an extent. However, since market organizers have been held liable for the sale of counterfeit goods on their land, we have thankfully seen a change in this respect.

Lisa Lovell qualified as a solicitor in 2002 and is the founder and Managing Director of Brand Enforcement. With over 11 years’ experience in this niche legal field, Lisa has gained a strong reputation in the anti-counterfeiting arena.

She has written extensively on the subject of IP theft for various industry magazines, is Editor of the special supplements on intellectual property law, published in The Times and is also a contributing author to the Handbook of European IP Management, published by Kogan Page.

She is appointed by the UK Intellectual Property Office (UK IPO) as a member of the Intellectual Property Crime Group (IPCG), which provides advice on the development of the UK’s National Intellectual Property Crime Strategy.

Click here to find out more about Brand Enforcement and for downloads of Lisa's articles on reporting fakes and IP protection.