A Brand’s New World Part 1 — Conference Speakers

At the A-CAPP Center, Kari is the assistant director for education and outreach, where she works on program management and design, outreach to industry and government, professional training.  She runs the Center’s executive education programming and the country’s first professional certificate in brand protection and anti-counterfeiting and the Center’s student internship program.  Additionally, she maintains an active research agenda on legal issues pertaining to trademark counterfeiting.  She has researched U.S. state anti-counterfeiting laws and case law, e-commerce liability for trademark counterfeiting, and the impact of culture in the Middle East on intellectual property and trademark enforcement. She enjoys working at the center because of its multi-disciplinary focus, creative solutions, and cutting-edge research.  Prior to coming to the center, she spent a significant time working, traveling, and living in the Middle East, including Egypt, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Libya, Jordan, and others.  She was Deputy Chief of Party at DePaul College of Law’s Iraq office, where she managed rule of law programs; and Deputy Executive Director in the Chicago office. She is a licensed attorney in Illinois and Michigan with a J.D. from DePaul University, an M.A. in Political Science from the American University in Cairo, and a B.A. from the University of Chicago.  She is serving her second three year term on the Academic Specialist Advisory Committee at MSU, where she has been chair, vice-chair, and chair of the promotion subcommittee. She is also an adjunct professor of law at MSU’s College of Law, where she teaches Trademark Counterfeiting, Food Counterfeits, and International Intellectual Property.  Additionally, she is a member of INTA and on the anti-counterfeiting sub-committee, AIPLA, AIPPI and the ABA.

Charles Olschanski is the Senior Director of Investigations for Tiffany and Company and he has been with Tiffany since 1997. His responsibilities include global oversight for all the internal and external investigations at Tiffany. Charles is tasked with implementing and ensuring execution of the company’s global investigative strategy to include all brand protection initiatives. His previous positions at Tiffany include Regional Director of Security-West, Regional Security Manager-West and Corporate Investigator. Charles works closely and collaborates with members of local and federal law enforcement as well as key investigative firms and task forces dedicated to combating counterfeiting worldwide. Charles also maintains multiple advisory and board memberships focused on brand protection, illicit trade and global investigative task forces. Prior to Tiffany, Charles worked as a Private Investigator for a nationwide firm based in Chicago.  He has also held various loss prevention positions at several luxury retailers in the domestic US. Charles is a Certified Fraud Examiner and a Certified Forensic Interviewer and holds certificates in Data Science and Specialized Executive Training for Security Professionals from Kellogg Executive Training at Northwestern University.

Dr. Patricia Huddleston is a Professor of Retailing in the Department of Advertising + Public Relations. She teaches undergraduate courses in Consumer Behavior and Retail Strategy and Consumer Behavior, International Consumer Behavior and Strategic Brand Communication at the graduate level. From 1991-2007 her research analyzed the retail systems in the transition economies of Russia and Poland. She was present at a pivotal moment in Russian history, witnessing the failed coup of August 1991. She and Dr. Linda K. Good published work on Russian and Polish worker morale, Price-Quality product perceptions of Russian and Polish consumers and Ethnocentric tendencies in Russian and Polish consumers. In 1996, Dr. Huddleston spent a sabbatical in St. Petersburg, Russia, teaching the first marketing course at Leningrad Oblast University. From 1998-2007, she pioneered a study abroad program to Russia and Poland which focuses on Retail Distribution. This intensive, short term program provided the opportunity for students to gain knowledge of retailing in post-transition economies. Dr. Huddleston’s research interests include customer loyalty, with a focus on food stores. A recent study drew comparisons between traditional (e.g. Kroger’s) and specialty (e.g. Whole Foods) food store shoppers and found that specialty store food shoppers are more loyal than conventional store shoppers. In 2004, Dr. Huddleston spent six months in Australia at Monash University, interviewing retail CEOs for a book chapter on Retailing in Australia. As a result of the time spent in Australia, she collaborated with Dr. Stella Minahan from Deakin University on a book entitled Consumer Behavior: Women and Shopping, which was published in January 2011. Her newest research project uses eye tracking technology to identify what consumers focus on when they view retail displays and how eye movement relates to purchase behavior. She is collaborating with Dr. Bridget Behe and Dr. Thomas Fernandez from the Department of Horticulture (MSU) and Dr. Stella Minahan from Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia.

Anastasia Kononova is an assistant professor of advertising at Michigan State University. Media multitasking is an overarching focus of Kononova’s interdisciplinary and international research that lies in the intersection of three areas: media and technology use across different cultures and social groups; psychological responses to media devices and persuasive messages; and advertising and digital literacy. Kononova’s primary research interest is related to exploring media multitasking behavior, i.e. using/being exposed to multiple media at the same time. Studying media multitasking patterns reflects idiosyncrasies and commonalities of media use across markets. Such knowledge helps enhance international communication, especially with regard to using multiple platforms to convey messages effectively. Kononova has studied media multitasking not only in a cross-cultural setting but also across the lifespan, focusing on media use behaviors of older adults. A large body of Kononova’s media multitasking research is devoted to exploring the effects of this behavior on cognition, emotion, rationalization, and resistance to persuasion. Kononova has found that switching between online tasks and using multiple screen devices at the same time negatively affect memory for mediated content, elicit less skeptical responses to persuasive messages (e.g., health and advertising messages), and hinder rational choices (e.g., choice of healthful snacks). In a related area of research, Kononova has explored how individuals cognitively and effectively respond to advertising messages placed in congruent and incongruent online contexts. In a recent project, Kononova focused on the use of health mobile applications (apps) and privacy concerns associated with sharing personal information via smartphones, exploring credibility judgments that individuals made of sponsored health mobile apps. Kononova’s word appeared in highly ranked peer-reviewed journals, such as Computers in Human Behavior, Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, International Journal of Communication, Journal of Health Communication, Journal of Medical Internet Research: mHealth and uHealth, and others. 

Staci is a Principal Attorney at Quinn IP Law and an integral part of the group’s trademark division. As a registered patent attorney with an engineering background, Staci understands and resolves her clients’ complex legal and technological challenges, while maintaining a versatility in the IP space that has earned her a reputation for quality and efficiency among her clients in the United States and internationally. Staci maintains a business- minded and worldwide approach to intellectual property, and focuses her practice on applying holistic strategies to transform brick-and-mortar intellectual property into assets that drive growth and protect marketplace position. Staci serves a diverse client group from Fortune 100 companies to emerging start-ups and provides a full range of intellectual property services, including trademark, copyright, and patent clearance, procurement, licensing, and enforcement; IP portfolio and brand management; anti-counterfeiting; trade secret and unfair competition; startup and early stage consulting; and IP due diligence. Highlights of Staci’s trademark experience include working to combat counterfeit goods in international markets using the USTR process, implementing an intellectual property management system for a subsidiary of a large publicly-traded company, and drafting and negotiating global trademark agreements to resolve multinational opposition proceedings. She also supports clients in the preparation and prosecution of patents in a variety of technical areas, including, sporting goods and equipment, building products, automotive technologies, tooling and control strategies for automated manufacturing systems and operations, among other fields of invention. Staci has also represented plaintiffs and defendants in patent, trademark, and copyright infringement litigation matters, as well as in proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) and the International Trade Commission (ITC). Staci has been named as one of World Trademark Review’s Top 1000 trademark attorneys each year during the period of 2015-2020, receiving a Gold Ranking in each of 2019 and 2020. Staci has also been named a “Rising Star in Intellectual Property” by Michigan Super Lawyers from 2017-2019, and was recognized by DBusiness Magazine as a 2016 Top Lawyer in Intellectual Property & Patent Law. Staci holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Michigan State University and a Juris Doctor from Michigan State University College of Law (magna cum laude), where she was a Dean King Scholar and served as an Articles Editor for the Michigan State Law Review, as well as the President of the Intellectual Property Law Society. 

Dr. Jay P. Kennedy is an assistant professor jointly appointed to the School of Criminal Justice and the Center for Anti-Counterfeiting and Product Protection. In this role he is actively involved in research, education, and outreach efforts that focus on external partners including corporations, industry associations, and law enforcement agencies. His current research explores managerial and organizational responses to employee theft within small and medium enterprises, the incarceration and post-incarceration experiences of white-collar offenders, the sale of counterfeit goods on the Internet, and the structure of occupational pharmaceutical counterfeiting schemes. Jay’s work is interdisciplinary in nature, and his published research has appeared in a number of outlets, including American Behavioral Scientist, Criminal Justice Review, Journal of Crime and Justice, Journal of Financial Crime, Security Journal, and Victims and Offenders.

Mark Schildkraut is Associate General Counsel-IP and Worldwide Cybersecurity Counsel at Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD), a Fortune 500 medical device and instrumentation technology company that develops, manufactures and sells medical devices, instrument systems and reagents. Mark has responsibility for and leads a team of IP associates that handles intellectual property matters concerning BD’s Pharmaceutical Systems, Diabetes Care, Specimen Management and Biosurgery business units.  These matters include patent, trade secret and trademark protection, drafting and negotiating technology and commercial agreements, product clearance and client counseling.  Mark handles BD’s IP litigations across the company, including its patent infringement and trade secret misappropriation cases in the US and abroad, as well as inter partes review (IPR) proceedings before the US Patent and Trademark Office. Mark is also responsible for establishing legal strategy and counsel on trade secrets as well as enforcement issues relating to the infiltration of BD’s information network and product offerings and exfiltration of BD’s sensitive information.  Particularly noteworthy was Mark’s involvement in BD v. Maniar and US v. Maniar, resulting in the guilty plea of two counts of theft and attempted theft of trade secrets.  He has also been involved with criminal prosecutions in Utah and Illinois, as well as civil enforcement in California and China. Mark has been an associate with BD’s Legal Department since 2005. Prior to joining BD, Mark was an associate at Kaye Scholer LLP (now Arnold & Porter) and Morgan & Finnegan LLP, focusing on patent litigation, IP clearance and prosecution matters.  Mark received his J.D. from Fordham University’s School of Law and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Mike Gannon is Senior Trademark Counsel for 3M’s Personal Safety Division, and leads 3M’s evolving efforts to address counterfeiting across 3M’s global businesses.  Mike began his career with 3M in 2004, and his 3M assignments have previously included 3M’s Industrial, Consumer, and Electronics and Energy Business Groups.  Mike previously practiced with a number of well-known intellectual property and general practice firms, and in his spare time enjoys spending time with his family and hearing his boys (14 and 19) make beautiful music.

Lori Mayall is Associate General Counsel, Intellectual Property, and Head of Anti-Counterfeiting and Brand Protection at Gilead Sciences, Inc. She started at Gilead six years ago as an in-house trademark attorney advising the company on product naming and brand enforcement. In 2018, she began leading a cross functional team focused solely on protecting the company from threats of counterfeits and diversion. The nature of Gilead’s medicines makes ensuring their authenticity and safety fundamentally important. Lori is honored to protect patients and Gilead’s reputation in her daily efforts to detect, stop, deter, and report illicit sales of counterfeit medicines.

Lisa Smiley is the Global Brand Protection Director for Johnson & Johnson’s Consumer business segment. The first line of Johnson & Johnson’s Credo states “We believe our first responsibility is to the patients, doctors and nurses, to mothers and fathers and all others who use our products and services.” This belief is put to practice every day in the work we do as Global Brand Protection professionals. Lisa’s mission is to safeguard consumers around the world from the risks of counterfeit, tampered and diverted products as well as to protect J&J’s Consumer business from the risks of illicit trade. Some of the trusted brands under Lisa’s responsibility include Tylenol, Motrin, Johnson’s Baby, Neutrogena, Aveeno, Listerine and Visine. Lisa began her career with J&J in 1999 and has worked in a number of functional areas including Process Engineering, Trade Marketing, Supply Chain, Finance and Payer Marketing before beginning her work in Global Brand Protection in 2015. Lisa received her BS in Biological Sciences from U.C. Santa Barbara and enjoys spending time with her husband and 2 children in the California Bay Area.

Dr. Jay P. Kennedy is an assistant professor jointly appointed to the School of Criminal Justice and the Center for Anti-Counterfeiting and Product Protection. In this role he is actively involved in research, education, and outreach efforts that focus on external partners including corporations, industry associations, and law enforcement agencies. His current research explores managerial and organizational responses to employee theft within small and medium enterprises, the incarceration and post-incarceration experiences of white-collar offenders, the sale of counterfeit goods on the Internet, and the structure of occupational pharmaceutical counterfeiting schemes. Jay’s work is interdisciplinary in nature, and his published research has appeared in a number of outlets, including American Behavioral Scientist, Criminal Justice Review, Journal of Crime and Justice, Journal of Financial Crime, Security Journal, and Victims and Offenders.

Native New Yorker (Bronx/Scarsdale/Bronxville) who went to college in Boston.  A proud Boston College Eagle.  Law School in the most perfect climate in the world: San Diego at the University of San Diego School of Law.  Practiced law (IP Litigation) at Gray Cary Ware and Freidenrich until it became DLA Piper Gray Cary and then DLA Piper.  Leaving San Diego was never an option until Brian set one foot onto the Nike campus in Beaverton, OR.  Leaving the partnership at DLA Piper was a difficult decision but the right one.  Nike has been his home for most of the last decade.  And raising three awesome little boys who live and breathe Nike and its ethos: Make Sport a Daily Habit!

Cristina Posa is Associate General Counsel at Amazon and Director of the Amazon Counterfeit Crimes Unit, which pursues civil litigation against bad actors, works closely with brands in investigations, and aids law enforcement officials worldwide in criminal actions against counterfeiters. Prior to joining Amazon in March 2020, Cristina was a federal prosecutor for over 12 years with the US Department of Justice, most recently serving as Senior Counsel in DOJ’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section. From 2014 to 2019, Cristina served as the DOJ Attaché to the US Embassy in Italy, where she managed law enforcement and judicial cooperation in all criminal matters between the US, Italy and other countries in southern Europe. She began her DOJ career as an Assistant US Attorney in the Eastern District of New York, where she won the DOJ Director’s Award and Federal Law Enforcement Prosecutor of the Year Award for dismantling an international cybercrime syndicate responsible for over $50 million in loss to US and international financial institutions, and also prosecuted complex organized crime, public corruption and financial crime cases. She is bringing the same approach to disrupting and dismantling sophisticated, transnational criminal networks with the Amazon Counterfeit Crimes Unit. Cristina is a graduate of Harvard Law School and Johns Hopkins University, and is fluent in Italian.

Hernan Albamonte is the Head of Illicit Trade Prevention U.S. for Philip Morris International (PMI), based in Washington D.C. Albamonte has served in various PMI roles around the globe for over twelve years. As PMI’s Head of Illicit Trade Prevention U.S., Albamonte is charged with coordinating the company’s campaign to combat illicit trade including, training law enforcement officers across the country so illicit products can be easily spotted and removed from underground networks, cultivating and briefing the government authorities on PMI’s core initiatives and representing the company with a variety of audiences and stakeholders. Before transitioning to the company’s D.C. office in 2019, Albamonte served as PMI’s Global Government Affairs Manager in Lausanne, Switzerland. In that role, he developed a network of alliances with third party stakeholders and executed government affairs and media engagement campaigns for the Europe, Latin America, Middle East and Africa markets. In 2013, Albamonte was stationed in Costa Rica as PMI’s Corporate Affairs Manager of Central America. He expanded the region’s public-private partnerships with local and international law enforcement agents, resulting in the seizures of over $36 million of unlicensed products and the closure of five illicit enterprises. Additionally, Albamonte generated a cross-industry anti-illicit trade web app sponsored by Chambers of Commerce and Ministries of Finance in three Central American countries. Furthermore, Albamonte orchestrated anti-illicit trade operations in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and the United States as PMI’s Latin America Regional Intelligence Coordinator in 2011, based in Mexico City. In addition to recovering $42 million of illicit goods by deploying anti-black market commercial strategies, Albamonte and his team successfully dismantled an illegal-export border route of unlicensed products through a partnership with PMI’s US and Mexico public and private stakeholders. He began his career with PMI in 2007 as a Communications Intern in his native country of Argentina, and was quickly elevated to the role of Brand Integrity Coordinator, where he launched communications campaigns to raise awareness about illicit trade in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay. Albamonte earned a double bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Political Science from Pontificia Universidad Cathólica Argentina ‘Santa María de los Buenos Aires’ and was awarded a master’s degree in Business/Corporate Communications from Universitat de Barcelona. A native Spanish speaker, Albamonte is also fluent in English. He lives in the D.C. area with his wife Caruba, a pediatric neuropsychologist and author, and their two children.

Ben Mok is the Senior Program Director for Corsearch Brand Protection. Prior to his current role, Ben was the Head of Operations with Pointer Brand Protection. Corsearch serves +75% of the Fortune 100 list and with the recent acquisition of Pointer & Yellow Brand Protection, Corsearch is the only provider with the ability to offer a full end-to-end trademark and brand protection solutions. As an experienced intellectual property advisor, Ben understands the intricacies and unique challenges faced by brand protection practitioners. His responsibilities include oversight on global brand protection programs for over 100 US brands across various industries. Ben received his B.S. in Finance from the University of South Florida.

Leah Evert-Burks is an Industry Fellow with the Michigan State University Center for Anti-Counterfeiting and Product Protection (A-CAPP Center). She is also the Editor in Chief for “The Brand Protection Professional,” an industry journal dedicated to brand protection with articles written for and by practitioners and industry experts, published by MSU. Leah previously served on the A-CAPP Industry Advisory Board. In addition to her work with A-CAPP, Leah works as an independent brand protection consultant primarily for the footwear and apparel industry and was previously associated with Foucart & Associates, a brand protection consultancy lead by former Director of the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center. Leah retired as Director of Brand Protection with Deckers Brands in 2015 where she directed all anti-counterfeit programs worldwide and managed IP litigation for the Deckers footwear brands which included the UGGâ brand. Leah began her legal career in 1984 working as a Paralegal for the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington D.C. Since that time she has worked primarily in-house for various corporations in a variety of industries. Leah served as the 2014 Co-Chair for the American Apparel and Footwear Association Brand Protection Council. As an industry member of an FBI-led Working Group relating to IP Cyber-crimes, Leah helped write and develop a set of PSAs on IP-Cybercrimes and counterfeiting which were awarded an Emmyâ in 2014. Leah has been interviewed on the subject of counterfeiting by numerous media franchises including Good Morning America, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Milken Institute Review, ABA Journal Magazine among other publications and is a frequent speaker on the issue. Leah received her BA in History from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado.

Carolina Gigua is the Director, Government & Public Affairs, Americas at The LEGO Group. Carolina is responsible for policy and regulatory issues management and public affairs across North and South America. In this role, she works internally and externally to mitigate commercial risks and create opportunities through dedicated stakeholder engagement to further support the LEGO brand reputation and corporate social responsibility efforts. Her policy focus involved intellectual property rights, responsible digital engagement and international trade. She has a Masters in International Trade and Investment Policy from the George Washington University. Carolina is originally from Brazil, but lives in New York with her husband and son. 

Kasie Brill is the Vice President of Brand Protection and Strategic Initiatives at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Innovation Policy Center (GIPC) and the Executive Director of the Global Brand Council. Kasie advocates for the protection of IP rights both online and in physical markets with a special focus on designing public policy solutions to combat counterfeit goods. Prior to joining the Global Innovation Policy Center, Kasie served as an advisor to private sector clients fighting illegal online pharmacies. She also served as law clerk to The Honorable C. Ray Mullins, Chief Judge for the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division. Kasie is a graduate of both Michigan State University and the Indiana University Maurer School of Law. During law school, Kasie served as President of the Student Bar Association, on the Executive Board of the Sherman Minton Moot Court, Law Alumni Board, and Admissions Committee. She also worked as a research assistant on issues of globalization with a specialization on the global impact of counterfeit luxury goods. Kasie has a wide-range of expertise in multiple disciplines.  She worked for a national advertising agency, and in a variety of federal government positions including work on Capitol Hill, at the United States Supreme Court, and at the Federal Judicial Center.

Andrew Love is the brand security/global investigations manager at Specialized. He created the Specialized Brand Security Department in 2008 and currently leads a 14-member team patrolling in 7 languages.  In this position, he has seized over 2 million dollars from counterfeiter’s finances, is active daily on 85 e-commerce websites & social media and his team averages 60 takedowns per day, $49 million USD value annually.  Andrew has been a guest speaker or presenter at Europol, IACC, Consero, IQPC anti-counterfeit forums, DHS international law enforcement trainings in Mexico and Colombia, guest faculty at the National Advocacy Center DOJ training facility, and has been a regular A View From the Field columnist in The Brand Protection Professional produced by the Michigan State University’s A-CAPP Center.  He’s been recognized in the media as “the cycling industry’s leading anticounterfeit crusader” (The New York Times),  “The cycling industry’s foremost counterfeit investigator” (Bicycling Magazine), “a shining example” (Velo Magazine), “hunched over his laptop computer, Andrew Love leads a team of 14 at Specialized who monitor 85 e-commerce websites around the world” (NPR), and “Andrew Love is the industry’s Dog the Bounty Hunter” (Bicycle Retailer and Industry News).

Jeff Rojek is the director of the Center Anti-Counterfeiting and Product Protection and associate professor in the School of Criminal Justice and at Michigan State University. As director he is responsible for the strategic development and engagement in the center’s research, education and outreach efforts. This includes building relationships with industry and law enforcement partners to foster research and education efforts related to anti-counterfeiting and product protection and creating multidisciplinary collaborations with scholars from diverse disciplines from Michigan State University and other institutions. He received his doctor of philosophy in criminology and criminal justice from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Prior to joining MSU, Jeff was the director of the Center for Law and Human Behavior and the University of Texas at El Paso, where is research career focused around partnering with the law enforcement community. He has received more than $3 million in research funding from federal, state, and local agencies as a principal and co-principal investigator to examine topics that include police practitioner-researcher partnerships, intelligence led-policing, violent crime, law enforcement response to disasters, officer decision-making, officer safety and police training.

Bill Ross currently serves as a senior advisor to the director of the National IPR Center in Arlington, VA. In this role, Mr. Ross provides technical and strategic guidance to IPR Center senior managers and staff on questions relating to IPRC operations, partner engagement and strategic planning. Mr. Ross retired from government service in December 2018 as the HSI Deputy Director at the National IPR Center after over 31 years investigative and management experience with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and its legacy agency U.S. Customs Service. Prior to that assignment, Mr. Ross served in several senior management positions for HSI in the areas of information management, asset forfeiture and technical operations. Mr. Ross’ first assignment at HSI Headquarters was as a unit chief at the National IPR Center overseeing both the IP and global outreach and training units. Prior to his assignment to HSI Headquarters, Mr. Ross served for four years as a section chief at the ICE Academy at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Brunswick, Georgia with oversight of the basic training program of all HSI Special Agents. Mr. Ross began his career as a US Customs Service Special Agent, serving for twenty years in the Charleston, SC area conducting criminal investigations involving intellectual property, commercial fraud, money laundering, narcotics smuggling, counter-proliferation and anti-terrorism.

Goli Gharib is an Attorney-Advisor in the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Branch, in the office of Regulations and Rulings (RR), within the Office of Trade (OT), of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). She is responsible for making substantive trademark and copyright infringement determinations, issuing binding rulings regarding infringement matters, and providing advice and training to field officers on infringement issues. In addition, she has primary oversight of CBP’s recordation system. Prior to joining CBP, Goli served as a Trademark-Examining Attorney at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Since joining CBP in 2003, in addition to the IPR Branch, she has also worked in the Trade & Commercial Regulations Branch, and in the Cargo Security & Carriers Branch. Goli received her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Florida and her Juris Doctorate from Florida State University. She is a member of the bar in Florida and the District of Columbia.

Christopher Merriam is the Deputy Chief for Intellectual Property with the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of the United States Department of Justice.  Mr. Merriam leads a group of 12 attorneys dedicated to intellectual property prosecutions and related issues.  During his 17 years at CCIPS, Chris has prosecuted cases of copyright and trade secret theft, and acted as the national contact for trade secret theft cases arising under the Economic Espionage Act of 1996.  He has also worked directly with law enforcement colleagues in more than twenty nations to help improve criminal enforcement of intellectual property laws, and served as the U.S. Co-chair of the IP Criminal Enforcement Working Group of the U.S.-China Joint Liaison Group of Law Enforcement.

Saleem Alhabash is an Associate Professor of Public Relations and Social Media at Michigan State University’s Department of Advertising + Public Relations, where he also co-directs the Media and Advertising Psychology (MAP) Lab. His research focuses on the processes and effects of new and social media within the context of persuasion. More specifically, his research investigates the cognitive and emotional responses, and psychological effects associated with using new and social media. His research is geared toward understanding how new communication technologies can be used as persuasive tools, most recently in relation to marketing of alcohol as well as digital aggression across the lifespan. He also studies how new and social media can facilitate cross-cultural and international communication, with emphasis on changing attitudes and stereotypes of foreign nations. In 2014, he was named the inaugural recipient of the American Academy of Advertising’s Mary Alice Shaver Promising Professor Award. His research won best article, top paper, and top poster awards at national and international conferences. Saleem received his Ph.D. from the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Pre-academia, he worked in a youth nonprofit organization focusing on media and well-being. 

John B. Hertig, PharmD, MS, CPPS, FASHP is Vice-Chair and an Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice in the Butler University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. Dr. Hertig has lectured and published on a variety of leadership, administration, patient safety, and health policy topics, and is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board for The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety.  He holds various national and international appointments, including with the International Pharmaceutical Federation, where he is Vice President of the Americas for the Hospital Pharmacy Section, and as President of the Board of Directors for the Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies – Global (ASOP), where he leads efforts to reduce the patient safety impact of illegal and counterfeit online drug distribution worldwide.  He was awarded the ASOP Global Patient Safety Champion Award in 2018.  Dr. Hertig received his Bachelor of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences and Doctor of Pharmacy degrees from Purdue University. He completed a PGY1 pharmacy practice and PGY2 health-system pharmacy administration residency at The Ohio State University Medical Center while also obtaining a Masters degree in Health-System Pharmacy Administration from The Ohio State University. 

Tim Ken Mackey is an Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Global Public Health at UC San Diego School of Medicine, the Director of Healthcare Research and Policy at UC San Diego – Extension and is the Director of the Global Health Policy Institute (www.ghpolicy.org). He is also the CEO and Co-Founder of the NIH-funded healthcare technology startup S-3 Research LLC.  He holds a BA in Political Science-International Relations, a Masters Degree in Health Policy & Law and also earned his PhD in Global Public Health from the joint doctoral program at UC San Diego – San Diego State University.  Professor Mackey’s work has been featured in high-impact journals such as Science, JAMA, Nature Biotechnology, the Lancet, Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology, Clinical Microbiology Reviews and BMC Medicine. His research and expertise has also been featured in major news outlets such as CNN, Wired, NPR and the Wall Street Journal.  His work focuses on an array of multidisciplinary topics in global health, public policy, international relations, and technology and innovation. He also has extensive professional experience including over 10 years experience in the private sector and acting as a consultant for the World Health Organization, the US Department of State and others.  His work in anti-counterfeiting and brand protection focuses on using big data, machine learning and data visualization to detect, characterize and report illegal online sale and trafficking of health products and other commodities.

John H. Zacharia is the founder of Zacharia Law PLLC and has over 24 years of litigation, policy and counseling experience. For over two decades, John has worked at the forefront of the legal issues confronting intellectual property owners. Previously, as the Assistant Deputy Chief for Litigation of the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) of the United States Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, John was responsible for supervising all of the intellectual property and cybercrime prosecutions by the Section’s 40 attorneys. In his 12 years at CCIPS, John became one of the most experienced federal prosecutors of intellectual property crime in the country. Notably, John prosecuted and obtained jury verdicts in one of the largest counterfeit goods prosecutions in U.S. history, and he successfully argued and defended the convictions before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. John also secured a number of “first of its kind” convictions, including the first-ever conviction and sentencing of a cyberlocker operator, and the first-ever prosecution and conviction for criminal copyright infringement of mobile device applications (“apps”). John is a globally recognized expert in intellectual property law and policy, having presented to a variety of international fora across the globe, including the European Union, Interpol, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conferences, Association of Southeast Asian (ASEAN) conferences, and the World Intellectual Property Organization. Prior to founding Zacharia Law PLLC, John was an Attorney Advisor to three different heads of the Justice Department’s Drug Enforcement Administration. Before joining CCIPS, John was a trial attorney with the Federal Programs Branch of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, where he specialized in constitutional and administrative law litigation on behalf of the United States. While there, John successfully handled several significant IP cases of first impression, including cases where he successfully defended against challenges to the constitutionality of the Copyright Act and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Prior to joining the Justice Department, John represented a variety of clients in private practice in large-scale “bet the company” litigation as a Senior Associate at Howrey & Simon and as an Associate at Carlton Fields. John currently teaches Intellectual Property Criminal Law at the George Washington University School of Law.

Tara Steketee is the Director of Global Product Integrity, Global Security for Merck & Co., Inc., Tara focuses on protecting patients from global supply chain threats with intelligence-led investigations and the development of proactive risk methodologies that can be employed to protect patients. Tara serves on the Michigan State A-CAPP board as well as other industry association boards and focuses on advocacy and engagement with policymakers and law enforcement in order to further better protection for patients. She is frequently called upon as a subject matter expert on counterfeit pharmaceuticals as well as the overall ecosystem that supports illegal drug sellers and the threat this activity poses on patients, worldwide

Jeff Rojek is the director of the Center Anti-Counterfeiting and Product Protection and associate professor in the School of Criminal Justice and at Michigan State University. As director he is responsible for the strategic development and engagement in the center’s research, education and outreach efforts. This includes building relationships with industry and law enforcement partners to foster research and education efforts related to anti-counterfeiting and product protection and creating multidisciplinary collaborations with scholars from diverse disciplines from Michigan State University and other institutions. He received his doctor of philosophy in criminology and criminal justice from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Prior to joining MSU, Jeff was the director of the Center for Law and Human Behavior and the University of Texas at El Paso, where is research career focused around partnering with the law enforcement community. He has received more than $3 million in research funding from federal, state, and local agencies as a principal and co-principal investigator to examine topics that include police practitioner-researcher partnerships, intelligence led-policing, violent crime, law enforcement response to disasters, officer decision-making, officer safety and police training.

Anne Keough is an Intelligence Analyst with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Unit. The FBI investigates IPR violations focusing on those that present health and safety threats, critical infrastructure threats, and violations with significant economic impact. The unit is embedded at the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center where they work with 24 federal and international partner agencies. Ms. Keough joined the FBI in 2016 with the Money Laundering Intelligence Unit. In addition to traditional money laundering investigations, she focused on Darknet marketplaces, Dark Web hidden services, and the illicit use of virtual currency. Her team led coordinated law enforcement takedowns of major Darknet marketplaces which were used to sell illegal drugs linked to overdose deaths; stolen identities, fraudulent documents, and counterfeits; malware and computer intrusion services; toxic chemicals; firearms; and a host of other illegal content. Prior to completing her degree in International Affairs from George Washington University, Ms. Keough spent several months working at the U.S. Embassy in London. In conjunction with United Kingdom officials, she investigated visa fraud and assisted overseas Americans who fell victim to fraud and internet scams.

Dan Levy is a Member of Firm Epstein Becker & Green, P.C., in the Health Care & Life Sciences and Employment, Labor & Workforce Management practices, in the firm’s Newark office.  He has been with the Firm since 2005.  Dan was recommended by The Legal 500 United States (2016 to 2018), in the Labor and Employment Disputes (Including Collective Actions): Defense category, and named to the New Jersey Rising Stars list (2010, 2012, 2015 to 2017) in the areas of Health Care and Employment & Labor. Dan litigates trade secret misappropriation, non-compete, non-solicitation, raiding, and other restrictive covenant matters in numerous industries, including medical devices, pharmaceuticals, health care, and financial services.  He also assists government agencies in the investigation and prosecution of trade secret theft cases.  Of note, Dan has represented clients in a variety of trade secret theft cases throughout the country, including criminal prosecutions in New Jersey and Illinois.  Dan also advises clients on policies and procedures and the implementation of such policies and procedures to protect trade secrets.   Prior to joining Epstein Becker Green, Mr. Levy was a law clerk to the Honorable Joseph P. Quinn, Superior Court of New Jersey, Civil Part, Monmouth Vicinage.  He received his J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law and a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.

Kevin Chow is a licensed Private Investigator (PI) and senior member of IP Services’ Investigations Department with over 16 years of experience in law enforcement and brand protection. After receiving a bachelor’s in Criminal Justice from Eastern Michigan University, Kevin attended the Chicago Metropolitan Police Academy and the Schoolcraft College Police Academy in Garden City, MI. He began his law enforcement career with the Ann Arbor Police Department, establishing himself as a respected patrol officer while gaining unparalleled experience working undercover cases. Being an officer of the law, Kevin enjoyed the variety and excitement of the day-to-day work while being able to serve and protect his community. In 2014, Kevin moved with his family to Northwestern Pennsylvania, starting a new career as a PI at IPS. He was able to migrate his talents and apply his law enforcement knowledge to tracing bad actors who violate the Intellectual Property Rights of companies throughout the world. His tenacity in researching suspect transactions, identifying criminal networks, and performing undercover surveillance is admired by both clients and colleagues. When not tracking down and catching the bad guys, Kevin spends most of his time with his wife and two teenage daughters, but also enjoys spending much of the year outdoors and preparing for the Pennsylvania hunting seasons.

Thomas J. Holt is Director and Professor in the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University. His research focuses on computer hacking, malware, and the role of the Internet in facilitating all manner of crime and deviance. His work has been published in various journals including Crime and Delinquency, Deviant Behavior, the Journal of Criminal Justice, and Youth and Society.

Dr. Jay P. Kennedy is an assistant professor jointly appointed to the School of Criminal Justice and the Center for Anti-Counterfeiting and Product Protection. In this role he is actively involved in research, education, and outreach efforts that focus on external partners including corporations, industry associations, and law enforcement agencies. His current research explores managerial and organizational responses to employee theft within small and medium enterprises, the incarceration and post-incarceration experiences of white-collar offenders, the sale of counterfeit goods on the Internet, and the structure of occupational pharmaceutical counterfeiting schemes. Jay’s work is interdisciplinary in nature, and his published research has appeared in a number of outlets, including American Behavioral Scientist, Criminal Justice Review, Journal of Crime and Justice, Journal of Financial Crime, Security Journal, and Victims and Offenders.

William Mansfield is the Director of Intellectual Property for ABRO Industries, Inc. headquartered in South Bend, Indiana.  ABRO exports a wide variety of household, automotive, and light industrial goods such as glues, tapes, and oils from the United States under the ABRO® brand name to individuals and small businesses in developing nations worldwide.  While virtually unknown in the U.S., ABRO® is a major brand name in countries such as Pakistan, Nigeria, and Ecuador. As Director of Intellectual Property, William is in charge of protecting the over 2,000 trademarks ABRO has registered in over 175 countries.  William has himself traveled to 55 foreign countries and directed matters in over 160.  This involves coordinating the actions of attorneys, investigators, and government officials on six continents (and he is hoping for a case in Antarctica to arise one day as well). William earned his J.D. from Indiana University, a B.A. in Psychology from Purdue University, and is currently completing an M.B.A. at Indiana University.  He is certified in the investigation of transnational and organized intellectual property crime by the international police organization INTERPOL. He was also recently named one of the top corporate trademark professionals in the world by World Trademark Review magazine.

Professor Griffis is the John H. McConnell Professor of Business Administration, and a Professor of Logistics in the Department of Supply Chain Management at Michigan State University. His primary teaching interests include logistics and supply chain management. Professor Griffis received his Ph.D. in Business Administration from Ohio State University with a major in Logistics and a minor in Information Systems Management. He also holds a Master of Science in Logistics Management from the Air Force Institute of Technology, and a Master of Arts in Logistics from The Ohio State University. Prior to joining academia he worked on numerous logistics system design programs for the U.S. Air Force before retiring as a Lt. Colonel in 2009. Dr. Griffis has published his research in top Logistics and Supply Chain journals.  His research focuses on a variety of issues including whether consumers truly value the set of logistics and supply chain services companies strive to differentiate upon (returns, assortment, speed).  Additionally, he researches vehicle routing through real supply chain networks, seeking to account for the variability in traffic, stop lengths, and goods/services delivered/picked up in ways that classic vehicle routing techniques ignore.  Lastly, Dr. Griffis works in the area of illicit supply chain networks where goods (e.g. counterfeit or illegal) co-mingle with legitimate supply chains, creating challenges for legitimate business operations.

Jade Sims is a trade specialist at the Michigan State University International Business Center. She is involved in all efforts to connect the Mid-Michigan business community with the resources of the International Business Center (MSU-CIBER) and the Broad College of Business. This work is strongly export-focused and includes programs such as the Global Business Club of Mid-Michigan, the Michigan Export Growth Program. The center also organizes tailored programs to assist businesses and associations to develop international strategies and create export plans. Other resources include globalEDGE, the number one resource for international business information. In addition, Jade is involved with study abroad programs, currently leading an undergraduate program to Spain each spring. Prior to joining the Broad College of Business Jade taught Spanish language and business spanish and advised undergraduate students in the College of Arts & Letters at Michigan State University. In that role she led and developed study abroad & international internship programs. Prior to coming to Michigan State University, she worked for over two years overseeing new product launches in the automotive industry and served as a microenterprise consultant with the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic. Jade holds a bachelor of art in business and spanish from Alma College and a master of business in international management with a specialization in global policy and development from Thunderbird School of Global Management and is a certified global business professional (CGBP) and CGBP certified trainer. She has lived and worked in the Dominican Republic, France, Spain, Costa Rica and Mexico.

Dr. Jay P. Kennedy is an assistant professor jointly appointed to the School of Criminal Justice and the Center for Anti-Counterfeiting and Product Protection. In this role he is actively involved in research, education, and outreach efforts that focus on external partners including corporations, industry associations, and law enforcement agencies. His current research explores managerial and organizational responses to employee theft within small and medium enterprises, the incarceration and post-incarceration experiences of white-collar offenders, the sale of counterfeit goods on the Internet, and the structure of occupational pharmaceutical counterfeiting schemes. Jay’s work is interdisciplinary in nature, and his published research has appeared in a number of outlets, including American Behavioral Scientist, Criminal Justice Review, Journal of Crime and Justice, Journal of Financial Crime, Security Journal, and Victims and Offenders.

Eric, a partner at Revision Legal, PLLC, focuses his practice on assisting businesses that primarily operate online. This includes assisting rights owners in internet specific issues such as domain name disputes, cybersquatting claims, data breach and privacy concerns, licensing, affiliate marketing, FTC compliance, and drafting terms of use agreements. Eric also helps businesses of all shapes and sizes in trademark and copyright matters, including federal litigation throughout the country. Eric has been named a “Rising Star” for intellectual property litigation every year since 2016.  While not working, Eric is playing with his three kids, Eliza, Jude, and Jocelyn and cooking overly ambitious meals with his wife Marian.

Larry joined the Bohning Company in October 1987. Previous to this he was an officer in the United States Army and worked in IBM’s Federal Systems Division. Shortly after joining the Bohning Company he became the president and CEO.  Larry Griffith earned his bachelor of business management in accounting from the University of Texas at Austin in 1981, his master of business management from Michigan State University’s Eli Broad College of Business in 2008, and his Doctor of Management degree from Case Western Reserve University in 2015. He has been active in his regions Workforce Development Board, been a Missaukee County Commissioner two years and the chairman of the county board for one year. He has been on the Archery Trade Association Board of Director’s from 2005 to 2012 and the chairman and vice chairman in 2009 and 2010 respectively.