ABSTRACT
The registration of new trademarks shows no sign of slowing down. In 2003, 227,000 trademark applications were processed in United States alone, and the European Union registered nearly another 60,000. Protecting one’s brand identity may not be an easy task, especially when goods need to be registered separately in different countries. Preventing and stopping brand imitators and counterfeiters become ever more bothersome. Consumers buy imitation goods because they can afford them, and then pass them off as higher priced originals. It is estimated that two-thirds of counterfeit goods seized in the United States originated in China. Relief can be in the form of either injunctive relief against future infringement or damages from past infringement. Recovery of damages seems to have been difficult in the past, but court cases in the United States show a different trend.
