Intellectual Property Protection and Enforcement Manual - Ipr-policy.eu
Intellectual Property Protection and Enforcement Manual - Ipr-policy.eu
Intellectual Property Protection and Enforcement Manual - Ipr-policy.eu
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Br<strong>and</strong> <strong>Protection</strong> <strong>Manual</strong><br />
Altria Group<br />
Altria Group may not be a household name, but its companies make some of the best<br />
known br<strong>and</strong>s in the world. One such company is Philip Morris USA (PM USA), the<br />
largest tobacco company in the United States with half of the U.S. cigarette market’s<br />
retail share. PM USA br<strong>and</strong>s include Marlboro, Parliament, <strong>and</strong> Virginia Slims. John<br />
Middleton is another leading manufacturer of machine-made large cigars <strong>and</strong> pipe tobacco,<br />
with its largest br<strong>and</strong> being Black & Mild cigars.<br />
Like many other consumer products, popular cigarette br<strong>and</strong>s have also been targets of criminal<br />
counterfeiters. Altria <strong>and</strong> its companies underst<strong>and</strong> that they have a role in addressing this<br />
problem in concert with law enforcement, regulatory authorities, <strong>and</strong> other affected groups.<br />
Interestingly, the problem was little understood until PM USA began receiving consumer<br />
complaints several years ago. When the company inspected cigarette packs mailed in by<br />
consumers it discovered that the Marlboro br<strong>and</strong> had been counterfeited. As Beth Kelly, a<br />
28-year Altria veteran who currently serves as Director of Br<strong>and</strong> Integrity for Altria Client<br />
Services, recalls, “This was when we realized how serious a problem we were facing.”<br />
Following this discovery, PM USA formed the Br<strong>and</strong> Integrity Department in 2002. Today, the<br />
department is part of Altria’s Client Services <strong>and</strong> provides a range of br<strong>and</strong> protection services<br />
to Altria’s companies, including PM USA <strong>and</strong> Middleton. The department’s role is to help<br />
Altria Group’s various companies protect the integrity of their br<strong>and</strong>s <strong>and</strong> the legitimate trade<br />
channels through which they are distributed <strong>and</strong> sold.<br />
Br<strong>and</strong> Integrity staffers focus on six main strategies: (1) law enforcement support, (2) product<br />
intelligence, (3) market monitoring, (4) litigation, (5) illegal trade legislation, <strong>and</strong> (6) enforcement<br />
of company trade policies. These six strategies for br<strong>and</strong> protection are carried out across<br />
the family of companies by multiple business functions including Sales, Corporate Security,<br />
Legal, <strong>and</strong> Market Information. As Kelly points out, “We work collaboratively across these<br />
functions, in addition to working with law enforcement, regulatory authorities, <strong>and</strong> law firms<br />
to protect the br<strong>and</strong>s owned by Altria’s companies.”<br />
Law <strong>Enforcement</strong> Support. Through ongoing law enforcement engagement, Br<strong>and</strong> Integrity<br />
staff work with federal, state, <strong>and</strong> local agencies to share market intelligence on the presence of<br />
contrab<strong>and</strong> products <strong>and</strong> methods for identifying counterfeit packaging. A group of regional<br />
security managers (all former federal law enforcement agents) are responsible for interaction<br />
with law enforcement <strong>and</strong> provide support services such as training <strong>and</strong> field inspections of<br />
seized products.<br />
Product Intelligence. “We have developed a quick guide <strong>and</strong> other collateral materials for law<br />
enforcement that we use for training <strong>and</strong> raising awareness about counterfeit cigarettes,” says<br />
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