Brand & New

Global supply chains, social commerce, geopolitical tensions, and now artificial intelligence (AI), are transforming the counterfeit landscape. Fake goods are no longer just a brand issue; they’re a public policy issue, a security issue, and increasingly, a technology issue.

Counterfeit goods affect everything from consumer safety and innovation to economic growth and organized crime. It’s a public policy issue and it’s evolving at speed.

To help make sense of this shifting terrain, we talk to Chloe Long, Director‑General of the Anti‑Counterfeiting Group (ACG), one of the world’s leading organizations dedicated to protecting intellectual property (IP) and brand integrity.

Ms. Long has played a central role in shaping the ACG’s strategic direction—working closely with brands, enforcement agencies, policymakers, and international partners to tackle illicit trade and raise awareness of its real‑world impacts.

She also joined this conversation—which took place in London during INTA’s 2026 Annual Meeting—at a pivotal moment for the organization, following the recent announcement of her appointment as Director‑General, a role in which she is guiding the ACG through what may be its most complex and consequential chapter yet.

In this episode of Brand & New, we’ll explore the ACG’s mission and day‑to‑day work, the latest trends in counterfeiting, how AI is changing both the threat and the response, and how the IP community is rising to the challenge and reshaping the global fight against fakes.

Related Resources

About Chloe Long

About the Anti‑Counterfeiting Group

Counterfeiting in the UK (INTA Daily News, May 2026)

Counterfeiting Fact Sheet (INTA, November 2025)

INTA’s Unreal Campaign

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In 2021, more than 3 million counterfeit articles were seized in the United Kingdom, with an estimated retail value around £142 million. By 2023, the volume of counterfeits came down to just over 1 million seized articles but, despite this decrease, the value of these seized goods rose to just over £200 million. 

No doubt, the scale and human cost of intellectual property (IP) crime is significant. In research published in 2020, the UK government estimated that counterfeiting and piracy cost the national economy £9 billion each year and contribute to more than 80,500 job losses annually. 

But the impact of IP crime extends well beyond economic loss: The workers producing these illicit goods may be exposed to poor, unsafe, and unregulated conditions, including in some cases child labor. Consumers may unknowingly purchase low-quality and often dangerous counterfeit goods. And communities may suffer when proceeds from illicit goods help fund organized crime and other illegal activities.

At the same time, the bad actors behind these IP crimes are becoming more sophisticated, using the same tools and tactics as legitimate businesses to sell their goods, expand their market, and reach more consumers in more parts of the world.

In this episode of Brand & New, we focus on IP enforcement in the UK and, in particular, how intelligence‑led and harm‑focused approaches are reshaping the fight against counterfeiting and piracy. As online marketplaces expand, supply chains become more complex, and technology evolves, enforcement authorities are having to work smarter, faster, and more collaboratively than ever.

The UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) has set out a clear vision through its Counter‑Infringement Strategy, centered on building the right structures, partnerships and evidence base to tackle IP crime at home and internationally. A key part of that vision is the creation of an IP Crime Centre of Excellence, strengthened intelligence capability, and deep collaboration with law enforcement, border authorities, and industry. 

Our host, Alastair Gray, Director of Anticounterfeiting at the International Trademark Association (INTA), is joined by two people at the heart of that work: the UKIPO’s Andrew Cooke-Welling, Director of Enforcement and Intelligence, and Ritwik Deo, Deputy Director for Intelligence and Law Enforcement Partnerships.

Together, they unpack how intelligence is gathered and used, what partnership really means in practice, and what rights holders should understand about the UK enforcement landscape today.

Related Resources

About Ritwik Deo

About Andrew Cooke-Welling

About the UKIPO

The UKIPO Intellectual Property (IP) Counter-Infringement Strategy

The UK Customs Intellectual Property Enforcement Report 2021-2023 (UKIPO, November 2025)

IPO counterfeit goods research (UKIPO, September 2020)

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Anticounterfeiting Benchmarking Report

How might artificial intelligence (AI) reshape the way trademark professionals evaluate "likelihood of confusion"? This is one of the most important—and rapidly evolving—questions in trademark law. 

INTA’s recently released study, Exploring the Use of Artificial Intelligence in the Likelihood of Confusion Analysis, is the first major attempt to provide an answer.

It takes a close look at how AI technologies—from machine learning and natural language processing to image and audio recognition—could be applied to one of the most fundamental critical aspects of trademark law: determining whether consumers are likely to be confused between two competing marks.

The likelihood of confusion analysis is undertaken in three significant phases of the trademark lifecycle. The first use is made by a brand owner looking to adopt and likely register a new mark.  The second is in intellectual property (IP) offices where trademark registration decisions include this analysis. The third area where the likelihood of confusion analysis becomes critical is when a dispute arises.

Likelihood of confusion is certainly a legal test, but that legal test is rooted in the core functions of a trademark, that is how brands build trust with their consumers and how the brand owner’s investment in the trademark can be protected.  

Turning to the report, what makes it particularly timely is the context? Firstly, IP offices around the world are facing increasing application volumes and growing complexity, from multilingual word marks to logos, sounds, and even motion-based trademarks. At the same time, AI is already transforming how we search, compare, and analyze data. 

Importantly, the study does not advocate for or against AI. Instead, it offers a practical, forward-looking framework, highlighting both the opportunities and the risks, from improved speed and pattern recognition to concerns around bias, transparency, and over-reliance on automation. 

This episode of Brand & New is hosted by David Gooder, former Commissioner for Trademarks at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), who also contributed to this report. To explore and help explain the report’s findings, he is joined by two colleagues who played a central role in developing this report.

Lori Schulman is Senior Director of Internet Policy at INTA. Ms. Schulman has long been at the forefront of INTA’s work on digital policy issues, including the intersection of emerging technologies and IP. She was part of the core INTA project team that worked closely with FTI Consulting to shape this report, contributing both policy insight and practical perspective on how AI is already affecting the IP ecosystem. 

Jose Londoño is Associate Senior Director for External Relations and Policy Development at INTA. Mr. Londoño also served on the report’s internal project team and brings extensive experience working with IP offices and policymakers around the world. Mr. Londoño’s background in public-sector IP administration—which includes serving as Deputy Superintendent for Industrial Property at Colombia’s IP office—adds an important global and operational perspective to how AI could be implemented in practice. 

Related Resources

About David Gooder

About Jose Londoño

About Lori Schulman

Exploring the Use of Artificial Intelligence in the Likelihood of Confusion Analysis (INTA, June 2026)

IP Office of the Future: Digital Transformation Think Tank Report (INTA, July 2026)

INTA Board Resolution of Artificial Intelligence and Intellectual Property Rights Foundational Principles (INTA, May 2025)

Likelihood of confusion (USPTO)

In a world where brand launches can leak in seconds, competitive intelligence is a reality, and social media amplifies everything, many companies are asking a simple question: How do we protect a brand before the world knows it exists?

That’s where stealth trademark filings come in. This is about using entities, strategic drafting, or filing approaches to obscure a company’s identity or future plans. Some see this as a smart, even necessary tactic. Others raise concerns about transparency, enforceability, and unintended legal consequences.

 So where is the line between smart brand strategy and avoidable risk? When does stealth help, and when might it backfire?

 To unpack this, we’re joined by Matthew Asbell, a partner at Lippes Mathias LLP and a widely respected intellectual property attorney with deep experience advising brands in diverse industries on global trademark strategy, enforcement, and policy‑level issues. He’s also an adjunct professor of law and frequent guest lecturer at Fordham University and The Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York City.

Mr. Asbell is a longtime leader within the INTA community, contributing to how we think about trademarks not just as registrations, but as business assets.

This episode of Brand & New is sponsored by Lippes Mathias LLP.

Related Resources

About Matthew Asbell

About Lippes Mathias LLP

Stealth trademarks explained: Protecting brands while staying under the radar (Lexology, July 2025)

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming how brands are built, but it's also making them easier to imitate. From voice cloning and deepfakes to synthetic endorsements and digital impersonation, the lines between authentic and artificial are becoming increasingly blurred.

In this episode of Brand & New, host Willard Knox speaks with Justin Pierce, Partner and Co-Chair of Intellectual Property at Venable LLP (USA), about how AI is reshaping brand protection. They explore why protecting a brand now extends well beyond trademarks, what organizations and individuals should be doing today to safeguard their identities, and how businesses can become "AI-ready" as technology and the legal landscape continue to evolve.

This episode of Brand & New is sponsored by Venable LLP.

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The theme for World Intellectual Property Day 2026 is “IP and Sport,” and here on Brand & New we’re joining in the celebrations with a close look at the powerful intersection of intellectual property (IP) and sport, and there may be no better stage for that conversation than “the world’s game:” football, or as it called in the United States, soccer! 

The goal of World IP Day 2026 is to highlight how creativity, innovation, and strong IP protection keep sport thriving, dynamic, and accessible worldwide—and few organizations embody that global impact quite like the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA).

In this episode of Brand & New, we’re joined by Tiffany M. Shepard, Director and Senior Counsel, Brand Rights Protection at FIFA World Cup 2026. In this role, Ms. Shepard leads the North American enforcement strategy to safeguard FIFA’s World Cup 2026 IP, retail licensing, and sponsorship rights from ambush marketing, counterfeiting, and unauthorized affiliations. Prior to joining FIFA, Ms. Shepard served in various in-house roles at major global brands, including at BuzzFeed Media Enterprises, The Kraft Heinz Company, and The Procter & Gamble Company

Ms. Shepard joins us today for a timely and wide-ranging conversation about protecting one of the most valuable and visible sports brands on the planet. As excitement builds toward the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup, she discusses the importance of safeguarding IP across borders, preserving trust and authenticity for billions of fans around the world, and what’s keeping her team busy in the weeks leading up the event. 

From the challenges of brand protection at large-scale global sporting events to advice for the next generation of IP professionals, this episode explores why IP matters not just to organizations like FIFA—but to creativity, innovation, and the future of sport itself.

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About Tiffany M. Shepard

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Copyright law is struggling to keep pace with the way we actually work and the gap between what's assumed to be acceptable and what's legally permitted is wider than most organizations realize. In this episode of Brand & New, Willard Knox connects with Lauren Tulloch and Catherine Zaller Rowland from the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) to tackle the copyright questions everyone is asking right now. They'll break down the real risks organizations face and what they can do about them. You’ll hear about the biggest misconception in this space, explore how fair use applies in the AI era, and more tools to keep your organization out of trouble.

This episode is sponsored by the Copyright Clearance Center. Learn more at copyright.com.

Resources:

About Copyright Clearance Center

About Lauren Tulloch

About Catherine Zaller Rowland

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Last year marked the fifth anniversary of The Women’s LeadershIP Initiative (WLI). This is the Association’s program to move forward the conversation around women’s leadership in our field and to give INTA members practical tools they can use to advance women leaders in their organizations.

During the last five years, the global intellectual property community has made real progress on belonging and inclusion in our industry, but when we look at leadership, advancement, and impact, many gaps persist.

In celebration of Women’s History Month and to mark our fifth anniversary, the WLI has just released an updated version of the WLI’s original Report and Best Practices Toolkit. It takes an honest look at where progress has been made and where more work is needed.

For this episode of Brand & New, we’re joined by Ayala Deutsch, Executive Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at NBA Properties and the WLI Executive Champion. She played a central role in the drafting of the updated Report and will help us dig into and unpack this data-rich research.

Notably, Ms. Deutsch was also President of INTA in 2020, which was not only the first year of the pandemic (with its own repercussions for working women around the world) but also the year when the WLI was drafting its first Report and Best Practices Toolkit. Further, as listeners may know, Ms. Deutsch has hosted many episodes of Brand & New on behalf of the WLI.

Beyond exploring the Report findings and data, Ms. Deutsch provides practical insights for those looking to advance belonging and inclusion in their organizations and engage their leadership on this issue, and for those who want to become better advocates for themselves.

Happy Women’s History Month and enjoy the episode.

Resources:

About Alaya Deutsch

About The Women’s LeadershIP Initiative

About Women’s History Month

The WLI Report & Best Practices Toolkit 2026 Update

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Artificial intelligence (AI) is forcing legal systems worldwide to confront fundamental questions about creativity, ownership, and identity. Can companies train algorithms on copyrighted works without permission? What happens when technology makes it easy to clone someone’s voice or face? In this episode of Brand & New, host Willard Knox speaks with two attorneys at the forefront of these rapidly evolving issues. Lynn Oberlander is Co-Editor of the Practising Law Institute’s (PLI) comprehensive new treatise, Artificial Intelligence & Intellectual Property, which brings together leading practitioners to address the most pressing legal challenges in AI. Catie Seibel Sinitsa is the co-author the chapter covering copyright and AI. 

Ms. Oberlander has spent almost 25 years counseling media and entertainment companies on intellectual property (IP) and First Amendment issues. Ms. Sinitsa specializes in copyright and trademark law, working with clients across fashion, media, among other industries. 

Together, they unpack how this evolving technology is reshaping long-standing IP principles and why these questions are no longer theoretical but urgent, real-world concerns. 

This episode of Brand & New is sponsored by PLI. For more than 90 years, the Institute has helped legal professionals stay at the forefront of knowledge and expertise through world-class continuing legal education. 

Related Resources 

About Lynn Oberlander

About Catie Seibel Sinitsa

About the Practising Law Institute

Access Artificial Intelligence & Intellectual Property

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• Certifying Human Music in the Age of AI
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The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) in music has sparked a new kind of identity crisis for artists and the industry alike. When anyone with a laptop can generate a song in seconds, how do listeners tell differentiate between human-created music and AI-generated music?

In this episode of Brand & New, guest host Rudy Gaines talks with Paul McGrady, an intellectual property attorney and the co-founder of Humanable (USA), a certification platform that verifies when music is created entirely by human artists. Inspired by his daughter’s journey in Nashville’s music scene, Mr. McGrady shares how Humanable aims to protect musicians, preserve royalties, and help audiences reconnect with authentic artistry.

Beyond the legal innovation, Mr. McGrady also discusses his Nashville alter ego, “Uncle Paul,” and his mission to spotlight independent musicians through social media and community advocacy.

This episode was recorded live during INTA’s 2025 Annual Meeting in San Diego, California.

Resources: 

About Paul McGrady 

About Humanable 

About Rudy Gaines 

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INTA’s 2026 Annual Meeting