Evidence collection 

First, it is important to act quietly and inconspicuously to prevent the other party from noticing early on that you are preparing and gathering evidence. Thus, do not yet contact a party involved in the infringement directly. However well-intentioned, there is a risk that such actions could have negative consequences. For example, a party may hide the products, start selling them “underground,” or react aggressively. So focus only on gathering evidence, without alerting or informing your counterparty.  

At the preliminary stage, the case will benefit if you can provide the following materials as information and evidence of infringing products or activities:

•    pictures of the suspect products/services which are labelled with a date and time, and evidence of the way in which they are offered;

•    screenshots, also including both date and time, of online advertisements, product/service offerings and/or live demonstrations/videos; 

•    advertisements and advertising material, labelled with date and time, such as folders and newsletters;

•    website links, preferably directly to the webpage offering the suspect product/service, including screenshots, labelled with date and time;

•     information about the distribution chain such as how and where the infringing products are imported, sold, stored and/or produced and/or services are offered (and the supporting documents for this, think of bills of lading, etc.);

•    contact information of a party offering, manufacturing and/or selling infringing products/services;

•    other information concerning the infringing products/services, which information is readily available to you without taking any risk. Examples are: amounts (stock) and (production or sales) costs;

•    relationship with the other party,  for example, a previous employment or distribution agreement.

Share all information with your patent attorney, trademark attorney or lawyer. They can review the case accordingly and suggest appropriate follow-up action.