An excellent article about how Private Investigators could help in patent litigation investigations. written by James Mintz and Staci Dresher of The Mintz Group.

Patent litigation often turns on obscure and long-buried facts, and some private investigative firms are developing expertise that can help patent counsel – on both the defendant and plaintiff sides – find information to support and even shape litigation strategy.  Read more

Donald A. Bambenek II, Bambenek Investigative Group

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Prior to my retirement from the United States Customs Service, I worked in Tacoma and Seattle, as a Senior Special Agent.  Though I mainly enjoyed working major narcotics smuggling cases and money laundering investigations, I also pursued cases involving the smuggling and trafficking of counterfeit goods, Intellectual Property Rights, (IPR) cases.  In early 1997, I recruited a retired FBI agent, to assist me in these IPR cases.  We brought trademark holders, federal, state and local law enforcement officers, and prosecutors together and formed an IPR task force in the Western District of Washington. We, subsequently, raided two major outlets in Lakewood, Washington, and seized large quantities of counterfeit merchandise.  The investigation led to other major traffickers in Washington, California, Illinois, and New York.

I retired from Customs in May 2001.   I decided to go back to work after 11 months.  I applied for a position in Loss Prevention for a major corporation and began working identity theft and counterfeit check cases. I met a retired OSI Agent, through the Tacoma Area Fraud Investigators.  He was working in Loss Prevention for another major corporation.    We shared the information on common suspects which resulted in the identification of a major organization, which we were able to intercept, and presented our investigative findings to federal law enforcement.  The case ended in the successful prosecution of the suspects. During my work in Loss Prevention, I was contacted by the same retired FBI agent who urged me to apply for my PI license. I did so and I began initiating cases.  A small percentage of them were IPR cases. 

Out of professional courtesy, I have always contacted federal and local law enforcement agencies when working these cases. You never know when they already have information on a criminal enterprise and are looking for an opportunity to take law enforcement action.   As a private investigator, I, subsequently, returned to one of the major outlets we raided while I was a Customs Agent and made undercover buys of counterfeit merchandise. I took my findings to local law enforcement and assisted them in their criminal investigation. We effectively put six retail operations out of business and criminal charges were filed.  In cases that were handled by serving Cease and Desist letters, and obtaining voluntary surrender of client's merchandise, we have been effective in shutting down over fifty retailers.

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In this exclusive LegalMindsTV interview, Greg Gulia, a partner in the New York office of Duane Morris LLP, discusses the factors contributing to the sudden increase in counterfeit and gray market goods, what companies can do to protect their brands from trademark infringement and why its essential to take action.

PNAI has a group of licensed investigators experienced in a wide variety of trademark infringement and copyright cases.  Working together, millions of dollars have been recovered in joint investigations in and around the Puget Sound region. 

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The next PNAI meeting will be held at the Adriatic Grill, in Tacoma, on Thursday January 14, 2010, 1800-2100 hours. The Adriatic Grill, 4201 South Steele Street, Tacoma, WA, 98409, (253) 475-6000. The food is superb.

For information on the Adriatic Grill please visit their website:  http://www.adriaticgrill.com

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I'm in the process of rebuilding the member "PI Directory" and have the information but am soliciting members for their most recent information.  None of the information is mandatory, I'll post what I have.  The information will be in the following categories:

• Business Name 
• Mailing address or street address with zip code (for Google maps)
• Telephone and fax number
• eMail address (kept private)
• General synopsis of you business
• Services offered

You can send the information to me here.

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