Articles

Disposal of Counterfeit Goods Requires Final Judgment and Adequate Notice

IP Litigator
March 1, 2009

Sommers, Mark , Kilaru, Naresh

Article

In this article, Finnegan attorneys Mark Sommers and Naresh Kilaru examine NASCAR’s counterfeit-combating procedure; NASCAR seizes counterfeit goods within a 10-mile radius of its racetracks, distributes the goods to charity, and then voluntarily dismisses the case, without obtaining default judgment or a permanent injunction. However, in 2008, the legality of this procedure was called into question, and Kilaru and Sommers conclude by explaining that seized provisions must be used solely as an evidentiary mechanism to aid plaintiffs in securing a final judgment and not as an end in itself to get rid of counterfeit products.