Scott R. Commerson

For the past 20 years, Scott R. Commerson has had a keen interest in advertising and branding and trademark law and said he particularly enjoys the investigative and creative aspects of brand protection and IP enforcement.

"The bad actors who rip off clients' IP are constantly changing their methods and using new technologies," he said. "Therefore, it's critical that we as IP lawyers be innovative and creative in our enforcement efforts."

One of his clients in the realm of brand protection has been Amazon and he serves as lead outside litigation counsel for the company's counterfeit crimes unit. Other global brands he's worked with include Hanes, Yeti, Procter & Gamble and Nintendo.

Over the past two years, Commerson's team has initiated more than two dozen actions against an industry of brokers targeting Amazon and other companies with fake product reviews. The team's novel claims and theories of relief led to the majority of these fake reviews websites voluntarily ceasing their illicit services following the filing of their cases.

"The majority of the fake reviews websites have voluntarily shut down their illicit services after our cases were filed," Commerson said. "We recently obtained a judgment against a fake review broker that ordered the transfer of the broker's website to Amazon, and also awarded Amazon disgorgement damages and attorneys' fees."

He added: "Enforcement cases like these require careful investigation to ensure that we have the necessary evidence to identify defendants and back up our claims. Also, because these cases involved novel facts, it was critical to vet our legal theories and allegations so they would survive judicial scrutiny."

In a separate matter, Commerson's team represents Cartier and Amazon against the sale of counterfeit Cartier bracelets. This case stands out as they pursued not only the sellers but also the social media influencer who promoted the counterfeit products. The influencer was part of a sophisticated "hidden links" scheme, deceiving consumers on Amazon.

"This is one of the first trademark cases against a social media influencer for using 'hidden links,' and it demonstrates the importance of pursuing actors in multiple parts of counterfeiting networks," Commerson said.

Discussig trends, he said he believes judges are increasingly recognizing the need to adapt law and procedure to the realities of the internet.

"For example, in cases where bad actors are operating online businesses and have taken steps to deliberately obfuscate their identities and locations, it is reasonable to serve them via email and other alternative means," Commerson said.