Understanding Intellectual Property Rights

In the early 2000s, Commerce Electronics Corp. (CEC) noticed that its European sales had begun dropping for no apparent reason. CEC, a small maker of control panels for high-end kitchen appliances, was perplexed because Europe had always been a predictable source of revenue. Soon, CEC discovered that a Chinese company was counterfeiting its products, going so far as to print CEC's name, address, and catalog number on the fake control panels. As a result of the counterfeiting, CEC estimates that it has lost approximately 10 to 12 jobs so far and $1 million in annual revenue, a lot for a small company. Companies like CEC have a lot to lose from infringement of intellectual property rights (IPRs). They suffer lost sales, they pay to replace the defective fake counterfeits, they may be sued for personal injury from the defective counterfeit products, and perhaps most damaging of all, the goodwill and reputation of the company, often developed over many years, are eroded. This course is designed to help small businesses take steps to protect themselves against the type of losses that CEC and many others have suffered as a result of IPR infringement within the United States and abroad. Although this course is designed for small businesses, the information presented is useful for all businesses, large or small