Venable partner Marci Ballard was quoted in the February 2016 issue of the National Retail Federation's Stores magazine on the growing market for counterfeit products. New research shows that as consumers' online shopping increased during the 2015 holiday season, counterfeiters have shown an ability to produce websites that make it difficult to determine if products are real or fake.
According to Ballard, there is no end to what can be counterfeited. "Mouthwash, batteries, clothing, pharmaceuticals, brake pads…every consumer product imaginable is a target of counterfeiters." To father illustrate her point, Ballard points to her experience last summer in successfully executing seizure orders against retailers and wholesalers selling counterfeit Zig-Zag paper products. "It's a growth industry," she added. "Chinese counterfeiters have huge global auction sites like Alibaba where they can get their products to consumers."