Intellectual Property Investigation
The most invaluable asset of a business might not be tangible and quantifiable – it is the company’s intellectual property, which includes everything from trademarks, copyrights, patents, designs to trade secrets.
How important is the Intellectual Property to a business?
Intellectual property development is a non-money investment that might bring potential gains and opportunities in the future. The actual market worth of a company’s intellectual property is hard to estimate, as it represents its uniqueness, creativity and all previous efforts in brand establishment. When intellectual property theft emerges, the loss incurred could be unlimited and prolonged, as the infringement does not only affect the immediate income of a business, but it is also stealing the brand’s identity and reputation, as well as damaging its sustainability.
Intellectual Property theft is getting popular
With the advancement of technology, intellectual property theft is becoming easier and more frequent, causing larger threats to businesses. The vast reach of the internet also assists the selling of counterfeit and unauthorized products, making it harder for copyright owners to trace cases of violation. When the intellectual property rights of your company are exposed to risks of infringement, such as piracy, counterfeiting, parallel importing and selling of business secrets, you need professional assistance to actively protect your branding.
With HERALD, you are protected via a few steps:
1. Background Company Search of the target company
After identifying the target company, we conduct a background company search to acquire its crucial information, such as address, scale, type of business, structure, capital sourcing, financial performance and key people involved. The search provides a thorough understanding of the target company, thus helping you determine the possible steps you can take in the future in order to eliminate or alleviate the risks caused by intellectual property infringement.
2. Business Site Visit / Approach
After locating the wholesalers and retailers, our investigators pay business site visits to inspect the operation of the office, stores as well as the products. We set out to collect and analyze first-hand information from business sites to aid your future actions: Are the products parallel import goods or counterfeits? How many local retailers are selling unauthorized or counterfeit goods? Is the counterfeiter pretending to be your brand, or is it using a very similar brand name to deceive customers? By observing the popularity and pricing of the concerned products, we can also examine the financial loss that the intellectual property infringement might have cost you.
3. Market Survey
We believe close and continuous monitoring of the supply chain can provide up-to-date analysis on the counterfeiting strategies. We conduct comprehensive market surveys online and offline to locate cases of intellectual property infringement and their supply chains, from the manufacturer, importer, wholesaler to retailer. Our targets for market surveys include retail platforms of different sizes and natures, ranging from small shops, leading retailers to virtual marketplaces. Moreover, in a digital age where counterfeit or unauthorized products can be easily purchased online, we especially keep an eye on the internet, including websites, social media and smartphone-based marketplaces, to trace the surfacing of counterfeits, as well as their sources.
4. Surveillance
Conduct surveillance on related parties to obtain business intelligence, to monitor your competitors’ IP Infringement innovation. Meanwhile, to protect intellectual property rights of your brand, we collect evidence of infringed goods by experienced operation team.
Herald offers competitive Investigation Services. To request a quotation or submit further instruction, please send us an email at info@herald.com.hk.