Kari Kammel

Director of the Center for Anti-Counterfeiting & Product Protection, Adjunct Law Professor Michigan State University

  • East Lansing MI

Kari Kammel actively researcheslegal issues pertaining to trademark counterfeiting, U.S. state and federal law and e-commerce.

Contact

Michigan State University

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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

Consumer Goods
International Trade and Development

Areas of Expertise

International Law
Intellectual Property
Trademark Counterfeiting
Trademark Enforcement

Accomplishments

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

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

  • 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

News

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.

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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.

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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.

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Event Appearances

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

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Research Focus

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

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

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, Forthcoming

2023

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.

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Survey & Legal Analysis of Select Global Trademark Anti-Counterfeiting Statutes & Evidence of Prosecutions

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review, Forthcoming

2023

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.

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Why Criminalize Counterfeiting if You’re Not Going to Prosecute?

Brand Protection Professional

2022

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.

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