The counterfeit industry is reportedly worth $1.2 trillion per year. That’s trillion with a “T”. According to Chavie Lieber at Vox, “counterfeits have also been linked to funding terrorism and other rings of criminal activity.” Lieber goes on to show how Instagram (particularly Instagram Stories, which disappear after 24 hours and therefore are difficult to track) has helped lead to the explosion of knockoff goods. Trademark owners do have one way to combat this issue: they can register their trademarks with U.S. Customs (also known as Customs and Border Protection or “CBP”). CBP regularly inspects goods brought in at various…
