Following months of research and investigations, designer Kathrine Baumann assembled enough evidence to prompt the U.S. Customs Service to pursue copyright infringement and trademark counterfeiting allegations.

Baumann first alerted the U.S. Customs Service to the sale of unauthorized versions of her handbags in 2001, but she estimates that knock-offs of her designs have been circulating in the marketplace for nearly four years, and that illegal sales have cost her company millions of dollars. Her initial objective was to expose the counterfeiters, but she also wants to educate consumers on how to detect counterfeit merchandise and help them understand the ramifications of purchasing such goods.

Baumann’s designs retail in fine jewelry stores and select department stores in the United States as well as Harrods in London. For information, visit www.kbaumann.com, e-mail: kbd@kbaumann.com, or call (310) 274-7441.