Category Archives: Blogs

A picture of a steamroller flattening seized fake watches was used to create one of two book covers for my upcoming novel, The Counterfeit Detective. At this juncture, it will likely be selected for the book cover rather than the other book cover design.

A publicity picture acquired from Cartier Watch Company that was used in my book Trademark Counterfeiting, Product Piracy, and the Billion Dollar Threat to the U.S. Economy was the inspiration for the book cover. Years ago, Cartier sectioned off a portion of Fifth Avenue and lined it with seized counterfeit watches, and then used a steamroller to flatten them. The fake watches were ones seized by private investigator David Woods.

Note: I scanned and tried to upload the black and white publicity photo but it didn’t look good . . . so you’ll have to buy my non-fiction book on trademark counterfeiting to see the photo.

In crafting the PI character for my upcoming novel “The Counterfeit Detective,” I took inspiration from Andy Warhol, a commercial artist who moved to New York City in the hope of a career as an artist. Although successful as a commercial artist, he failed to find a place in the art establishment until he turned his artistic talents to the Pop Art Movement and created his most famous work Thirty-two Campbell’s Soup Cans.

Pop Art was conceived as anti-art, a revolt against fine art by using the commercial art found in advertising as well as images from mass media. Warhol saw art in the Campbell’s Soup trademark and the packaging, referred to as the trade dress in the industry. His vision was consistent with Pop Art’s anti-art theme, because the purpose of a Campbell’s Soup trademark is to sell soup. Until Pop Art was introduced, fine art had nothing to do with selling consumer products. Many art critics derided Pop Art and called it “fake.” The initial showing of the Thirty-two Campbell’s Soup Cans fared poorly; over time it was recognized as a masterpiece.

Theo Jones, the failed actor turned PI, pursues counterfeit trademarks (trademark counterfeiting) and his personal dilemma, his longing to continue as an artist and to be true to himself, reflects Warhol’s quest to become an artist. Jones is reborn during the course of the story and rediscovers his passion for his craft as a result and, like Warhol, fulfills his dream of becoming an artist.

America had few, if any, apparel designers until the late 1960’s.  Along came designers like Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, and George Marciano to name a few.  These designers built their apparel empires by way of brand marketing, which originated as an advertising strategy after World War II. The idea was to create brand awareness in the consumer through advertisements and then branch out to other consumer products and services.

While researching my book on Trademark Counterfeiting, I interviewed a former assistant corporate counsel for Levi Strauss about designer jeans.  He said “designer jeans, acid and stone washed jeans, are no better than your average pair of Levi 501s.  The technology hasn’t advanced that much.”

Brand marketing and a strong marketing campaign helped build an empire for Ralph Lauren whose ubiquitous polo player symbol is used to sell polo shirts, dress shirts, tee-shirts., socks, cologne and other consumer items.  Brand marketing was used by Calvin Klein who created ads featuring fifteen year old Brooke Shields wearing CK jeans, and Murjani which launched Gloria Vanderbilt designer jeans with a swan logo.  Brand development is used by many corporations.  For instance Harley Davidson has branched out into theme restaurants and apparel; Caterpillar, the maker of tractors, has work boots; and so on.  Many female celebrities have lent their name to perfume and apparel.

Designer jeans were a big hit and topped the list of apparel sold in the United States.  This was the hippie generation who wore jeans because they were a working man’s clothes.

However, the downside was that the jeans were easy to counterfeit. Much of the apparel was manufactured in Mexico and in Asia where the cost of labor is cheaper and this contributed to the counterfeiting onslaught.  Selling counterfeit jeans and apparel became widespread and remains so to this day.  Apparel and luggage manufacturers spend millions in combating the counterfeiters.  Louis Vuitton spends about five percent of its revenue fighting counterfeiters.

Trademark counterfeiting?  Most people are unfamiliar with the term but are likely familiar with knockoff, replica, and counterfeit to describe a crime that accounts for an estimated seven to ten percent of the world economy.  This is not a new crime but dates back to the Middle Ages and the trade guilds, which were required by law to have a distinguishing mark or brand to distinguish their goods.  Stealing the brand by way of using a trade guild’s mark to sell inferior copies was widespread.

Many guild marks or trade names are in use today.   Sterling silver is an alloy developed by silversmiths in Germany in the Twelfth Century.  Pewter is a metal alloy of tin, mixed with copper or alimony and dates back to the Twelfth Century in France.

Bread counterfeiting was a big problem in the Middle Ages.  The Assize of Bread and Ale was enacted in England in the 13th Century to set price controls for bakers and lasted for 500 years.  This was a public policy of regulating the price and size of a loaf to ensure the poor could afford it.  Bakers using the proper amount and size marked the bread.  Bakers would try to cheat by adding chalk, white sand or other additives.

I attended PirateCon 2015 which was held in Boston.  This was a one day convention held by the Massachusetts Pirate Party.  I attended to obtain material for a book I’m writing on file sharing on the Internet.  The Pirate Party, which originated in Sweden, is now in 60 countries world-wide. The President of the Massachusetts party has a title of “Captain.”  The Massachusetts party has about 400 people and is likely the largest Pirate Party in the United States.

There was a live streaming video interview with Rick Falkvinage, founder of the Pirate Party.  He impressed me as a very intelligent and spoke on a wide range of issues that focused on political actions for the next year.  Members of the pirate party introduced themselves and asked questions.

Hello, my name is Paul R. Paradise. That’s me sitting to the left with a smile. I’m feeling good because my novel “The Counterfeit Detective” will be available in about a month or so. The novel is based in part on an award-winning short story and also on a chapter length profile of real-life PI David Woods. Dave handles intellectual property or “trademark cases,” as they’re called the business. Many of his investigations involve counterfeit apparel. One of Dave’s best cases involves a counterfeit car. The Ferrari seen on the first year of the TV show “Miami Vice” was not a Ferrari at all but a custom car kit. Dave handled the investigation that had the custom car kit company cease marketing its products.

By September Paul will be posting weekly blogs