Clarifying Wrongful Seizures Under the Trademark Counterfeiting Act

Originally published in Trademark World, April 2000

As many trademark owners in the United States and abroad know, the rampant practice of trademark counterfeiting can cost owners millions of dollars in the form of injury to business reputation, lost sales, and litigation costs incurred to ward off counterfeiters. In fact, some estimates indicate that counterfeiting costs U.S. businesses billions of dollars per year. As a result, U.S. courts have reacted by making counterfeiting laws increasingly favorable to trademark owners in the United States.

In 1984, Congress enacted the Trademark Counterfeiting Act (the "Act") to alleviate the burden imposed on U.S. and foreign trademark owners by trademark counterfeiters. In addition to imposing stiffer penalties on counterfeiters, this Act enables owners of U.S. trademark registrations to seek ex parte seizure orders, which allow trademark owners to obtain evidence before the trademark counterfeiter disposes