Intellectual Property Case

At 7am on a Saturday Morning, the Seizure Team, which included the attorneys, computer forensic specialists from GDF, private investigators and the United States Marshals convened at locations in New York City, Long Island, New Jersey and Los Angeles. At approximately 8am EST the seizure teams entered the locations simultaneously surprising the workers who arrived just minutes earlier. After the Marshals served the order and secured the premises the investigators began searching for counterfeit product and the computer forensic specialists began imaging disk drives and searching for additional locations. GDF computer forensic specialists were able to image and search approximately 30 computers in 5 locations as well other digital assets such as cellular phones, fax machines, telephone systems and voicemail systems while the investigators and attorneys searched the warehouses and offices. While only 3 counterfeit products and 2 cases of the “confusing” merchandise was seized the computers yielded a wealth of information.

The examination identified additional locations and communications concerning suppliers, shipments and quantities. After onsite imaging, lab analysis supported reports of sales, shipping manifests, stock records and supplier relationships relevant to the suspected counterfeit merchandise.

Counsel could use the organized records to examine distribution and financial questions. The value of the technical work was linking communications, inventory and transactions across the sources.