Kari Kammel
Director of the Center for Anti-Counterfeiting & Product Protection, Adjunct Law Professor | Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI, UNITED STATES
Kari Kammel actively researcheslegal issues pertaining to trademark counterfeiting, U.S. state and federal law and e-commerce.
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Biography
Kari is the director of the A-CAPP Center and maintains an active research agenda on legal issues pertaining to trademark counterfeiting, U.S. state and federal law, e-commerce and social media liability for trademark counterfeiting, public international and intellectual property legal issues, and the impact of culture in the Middle East on intellectual property and trademark enforcement. She has testified before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee and Senate Judiciary Committee based on her research. She runs the Center’s education programming, including executive education, the professional certificate in brand protection, the Center’s student internship program and student placement. She also heads outreach to brand protection stakeholders for the center.
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, and the ABA.
Industry Expertise (2)
Consumer Goods
International Trade and Development
Areas of Expertise (4)
International Law
Intellectual Property
Trademark Counterfeiting
Trademark Enforcement
Accomplishments (3)
Most Influential Research Center on Illicit Trade and Counterfeits, A-CAPP Center
2022
Outstanding Staff Member Award, A-CAPP Center
2018
Steven Schneebaum Award for Outstanding National Administrators, Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition
2011
Education (3)
DePaul University College of Law: J.D., International & Comparative Law 2008
The American University in Cairo: M.A., International Human RIghts Law 2005
University of Chicago: A.B., Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations 2001
Affiliations (4)
- International Trademark Association Member (INTA) : Committee on Anti-Counterfeiting; Project Lead on Proceeds of Counterfeiting
- American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) Committees : Anti-Counterfeiting and Anti-Piracy, Emerging Technologies, Food and Drug
- American Bar Association (ABA) : Committee on Counterfeiting
- AIPPI (Association Internationale pour la Protection de la Propriété Intellectuelle), International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property
Links (4)
News (6)
Multnomah County Prosecutors Are Charging Fentanyl Dealers With Counterfeiting a Big Pharma Trademark
Willamette Week online
2023-03-29
Kari Kammel, the center’s director, says the rise of e-commerce has focused more attention on counterfeiting. “Prosecutors need to use every tool they have in their toolbox,” she adds.
Fake College Prompts Scrutiny
Inside Higher Ed online
2023-01-23
Kari Kammel, director of the nonprofit Center for Anti-Counterfeiting and Product Protection (A-CAPP), housed at Michigan State University, said online brand impersonation has exploded in recent years. “It’s immense and it’s nonstop,” Kammel said.
How to avoid counterfeit goods in Michigan
WLNS News online
2022-07-19
“Slow down is the best thing I can say. Like we are very much in a fast pace society, including with shopping and getting discounts. Slow down for a second look at where there based, look at the address, look at the reviews, said Kari Kammel, Director of A-CAPP Center at Michigan State.
Fake Pharma Websites Bring Fentanyl Right to Your Laptop
Inside Sources online
2022-04-06
With the internet, there is no longer a need for a street drug dealer, said Kari Kammel with the Michigan State University Center for Anti-Counterfeiting and Product Protection. “If you have someone based in China putting together counterfeit Xanax and lacing it with Fentanyl they can sell directly to consumers in small packages,” Kammel said. “Customs isn’t getting them through shipments in big sea freights. You don’t have drug-sniffing dogs looking for a small envelope package.”
Senate Hearing on Online Marketplace Fraud
C-SPAN online
2021-11-02
Experts testified at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing about online marketplace fraud. The witnesses answered questions on several topics, including online trademark counterfeiting, the rise of organized retail crime, online retailer privacy, and the use of data by large online retailers to create copycat products. close
Inflation, Surplus Relief Funds and Unsavory Actors Rising?
State of the State Podcast online
2021-06-18
They were joined by Kari Kammel,assistant director of education and outreach, at MSU's Center for Anti-Counterfeiting and Product Protection. She traced counterfeit goods sold person-to-person in stalls and stores to the sales of deceptive services, pharamaceuticals and fake COVID-19 vaccines sold by "ghost" vendors virtually untraceable on the internet's darkest online corners.
Event Appearances (7)
Protecting Brands in the Real World
Intellectual Property Law Spring Seminar East Lansing, MI
2023-03-02
Rule of Law and IPR Prosecutions
USPTO/U.S. State Dept. MEPI, Intellectual Property Rights Workshop for Moroccan Judges & Prosecutors Marrakech, Morocco
2023-02-06
Presentation on A-CAPP Center
Private Sector Associations Meeting on Intellectual Property Enforcement organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Geneva and Online
2022-10-03
Judge & Presenter
Bring Down Counterfeiting Hackathon Online
2022-08-27
Trade Mark Infringement and Social Media Symposium
UK Intellectual Property Office Northumbria University, Newcastle
2022-06-20
Cleaning Up Online Marketplaces: Protecting Against Stolen, Counterfeit, and Unsafe Goods
Senate Judiciary Hearing Washington, DC
2021-11-02
Hearing on The SHOP SAFE Act: Stemming the Rising Tide of Unsafe Counterfeit Products Online
U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet Washington, DC
2021-05-27
Research Focus (1)
Areas:
Trademark Counterfeiting, U.S. State and Federal Law, E-commerce and Social Media Liability for Trademark Counterfeiting, Public International and Intellectual Property Legal Issues, and the Impact of Culture in the Middle East on Intellectual Property and Trademark Enforcement
Research Grants (3)
MSU-CIBER Grant Fund for Curriculum Development
Center Brand Protection Professional Certificate $15000
Internationalization of content for the A-CAPP
MSU-CIBER Grant Fund for Professional Development
NASBITE Conference $1100
2020-03-01
What Emerging SMEs need to know about Counterfeiting and Brand Protection: Right-Sizing Your Approach
MSU-CIBER Grant Fund for Presenting
NASBITE Conference $1500
2018-03-01
Why Educating About Product Counterfeiting is Important
Journal Articles (5)
Trademark Counterfeiting Enforcement Beyond Borders: The Complexities of Enforcing Trademark Rights Extraterritorially in a Global Marketplace with Territorial-Based Enforcement
Fordham Intellectual Property, Media & Entertainment Law Journal, Forthcoming2023 We focus on the enforcement of trademark rights, particularly those used against counterfeiters, or those who use unauthorized trademarks of another. We examine the concept of extraterritorial enforcement of trademark rights — the extending of enforcement across national borders — and reviewing how different countries and jurisdictions view this concept or even allow it.
Survey & Legal Analysis of Select Global Trademark Anti-Counterfeiting Statutes & Evidence of Prosecutions
Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review, Forthcoming2023 Analysis of criminal trademark counterfeiting-related legislation and evidence of prosecutions in 24 countries and the European Union. The initial goal was to understand, describe and evaluate the effectiveness of criminal punishment for trademark counterfeiting in this comparative study, while also exploring the feasibility of further studies of global governmental criminalization and prosecution of trademark counterfeiting.
Why Criminalize Counterfeiting if You’re Not Going to Prosecute?
Brand Protection Professional2022 In country after country and in the U.S. in all fifty states, we see trends towards criminalizing trademark counterfeiting, starting in the 1980s up to the present. The A-CAPP Center recently explored the criminalization of trademark counterfeiting on a global scale and resulting evidence of prosecutions–if any.
INFORM Consumers Introduction into the America COMPETES Act: How potential changes could create too many loopholes for it to be useful or effective
A-CAPP Center Paper2022 Recent proposed amendments to the federal and state level versions of the INFORM Consumers Act would create confusing provisions, ambiguity, and loopholes that could effectively render the bills useless and in the end would not provide protections for consumers shopping online.
Revisiting the SHOP SAFE Act After Markup,
A-CAPP Center Paper2021 In 2020, Congress initially introduced a series of bill designed to help stem the sale of trademark counterfeits by third party providers on e-commerce platforms, including the SHOP SAFE Act, INFORM Consumers Act and the SANTA Act. While a comprehensive multi-faceted approach to combat counterfeiting is vital, one of the most important tools in this approach is an applicable legal structure for intellectual property owners to be able to protect their trademarks in this case.
