6th Anniversary of IPProbe.Global Blog
Dear IPProbe.Global – Blog Reader: I hope this message finds you and yours healthy and safe. With your permission, IContinue Reading
Author: Ron Alvarez
Ron Alvarez is an IP investigations and protection consultant and writer in New York City. He is a former NYPD lieutenant where he investigated robbery, narcotics, internal affairs, and fine art theft cases. Ron has since coordinated the private investigation of international fraud and money laundering cases, as well as IP-related investigations and research involving the four pillars of IP: copyright, patents, trademarks, and trade secrets.
Ron is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and earned a B.A. in Government and Public Administration from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan. He has written a number of articles for various investigative publications, as well as published "The World of Intellectual Property (IP) Protection and Investigations" in November 2021.
First US/DOJ—NFT “Rug Pull” Prosecution: Part 2 of 2
As I mentioned in my previous post (Part 1 of 2), I intended to provide the step-by-step details U.S. federalContinue Reading
First US/DOJ—NFT “Rug Pull” Prosecution: Part 1 of 2
I suppose, for most of us, we need to start with what is an NFT? A.K.A. – Non-Fungible Token? AnContinue Reading
Tracking Down Book Copyright Pirates Overseas
Last month legal thriller writers John Grisham and Scott Turow wrote an opinion piece published in The Hill titled, “OnlineContinue Reading
Brand Protection Professional (BPP) Interview with former FBI Agent and IP Protection and Investigations Consultant: Michael Lemieux
The Michigan State University, Center for Anti-Counterfeiting and Product Protection (A-CAPP), Brand Protection Professional (BPP), recently interviewed former FBI AgentContinue Reading
FBI Announces: Beware of QR Codes–UPDATE
About five weeks ago, I published a post titled, “FBI Announces: Beware of QR Codes.” Prompted by the FBI announcement,Continue Reading
FBI Director Wray: “There is just no country that presents a broader threat to our ideas, our innovation, and our economic security than China.”
Two weeks ago, FBI Director Christopher Wray spoke at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California about countering Chinese economicContinue Reading
Does Stress Drive Employee Violations of Cybersecurity Policy?
Ten days ago, the Harvard Business Review published an article titled: Research: Why Employees Violate Cybersecurity Policies. According to theContinue Reading
FBI Announces: Beware of QR Codes
This will be a very short post because there’s nothing more to say than to take a minute to readContinue Reading
Composition of a Chinese Trade Secrets Theft Enterprise–A Family Affair: UPDATE-2
In January 2016, U.S. federal prosecutors (Department of Justice-DOJ) in Pennsylvania indicted five people for allegedly stealing trade secrets from UK pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKlineContinue Reading
CISA & FBI – Holiday Cyber Security Tips
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the FBI just posted a 3 minute video that covers a fewContinue Reading
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Dear IP Probe Blog Readers: It’s nearly the end of the year – and what another year it’s been. JustContinue Reading
CISA – Cyber Threat Hunting Recommendations
It intrigued me to read the section titled, “Threat Hunting” in the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Alert, “RansomwareContinue Reading
CISA Holidays and Weekends Security Reminder for Critical Infrastructure- Introduction
On November 22, 2021, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued a notice titled, “Reminder for Critical InfrastructureContinue Reading
Copyright Alliance Guest Interview with IP Probe Blog Founder: Ron Alvarez
Dear IP Probe Readers: Recently, I had the privilege of being interviewed by the Washington, D.C. based Copyright Alliance. CreatorContinue Reading
Newly Published IP Protection and Investigations Book
Dear IP Probe Subscribers, Recently I published a book titled, “The World of Intellectual Property (IP) Protection and Investigations —Continue Reading
First Strike Against Digital Pirate—Under New “Protecting Lawful Streaming Act”
On October 28, 2021, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York indicted a Minnesota man forContinue Reading
Reasonable Measures Taken by Aircraft Company to Protect Their Trade Secrets
Last month the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that an engineer in Georgia pled guilty to conspiracy to stealContinue Reading
New and Improved: Hybrid Chinese IP Theft Model
There’s a subplot to my previous post, “Arsenal Employed by Chinese State IP Thieves Have no Moral Limits,” about theContinue Reading
Arsenal Employed by Chinese State IP Thieves Have No Moral Limits
Historically, state-sponsored IP thieves have used legitimate-looking domains and email addresses to trick victims into opening an email and linkContinue Reading
PI License May be Required to Investigate Digital Copyright Infringement – If Evidence is Used in a Court Proceeding – UPDATE
In July, I published a post titled, “PI License May be Required to Investigate Digital Copyright Infringement – If EvidenceContinue Reading
Cyber Enabled Crime vs. Cyber Dependent Crime
A few days ago I came across an article published in the August issue of a Dublin, Ireland, magazine calledContinue Reading
ANNOUNCEMENT: IP PI Blog – Now – IP PROBE Blog
Dear Subscriber: Just a brief note to let you know that I have changed the blog’s name from “IP PI”Continue Reading
Chinese State-Sponsored Espionage (a.k.a. IP Theft) Survey
In a recent article in the July 24, 2021, edition of The Economist, titled, “Chinese cyber-attacks—Ctrl-alt-denounce—After failing to dissuade cyber-attacks,Continue Reading
You See, But What Do You Observe? by Christina Lekati
You See, But What Do You Observe? How Observation and Inference Skills Can Aid Investigations & Analytic Work by: ChristinaContinue Reading
PI License May be Required to Investigate Digital Copyright Infringement — If Evidence is Used in a Court Proceeding
A recent Torrent Freak article titled, “Rightscorps Tracks Alleged Pirates Without a Private Investigators License, RCN Argues”, raises a veryContinue Reading
Microchip Counterfeiters—Making a Play
So, we—as IP protection and investigation professionals—swim in the polluted waters of criminals that counterfeit clothing, jewelry, toys, car brakes,Continue Reading
PBS Ransomware Article—Solid Up-to-Date Source of Information for IP Professionals
If you are learning about ransomware attacks in bits-and-pieces over the last few months, yesterday’s PBS article titled, “Why ransomwareContinue Reading
IP Lawyer is First Call Made by Ransomware Victim
The attached article titled, “Why a trucking company called a lawyer minutes after a ransomware attack,” published in Freight WavesContinue Reading
Litigation Support: IP Attorneys and Investigators with Non-U.S. Clients – Gather U.S. Based Evidence Applying 28 USC 1782
Three years ago, I published a post titled, “What is 28 USC 1782? And Why Should IP Professionals Care.” InContinue Reading