Kristina Montanaro Schrader, Adams and Reese Anti-Counterfeiting Team Leader and intellectual property attorney in the firm’s Nashville office, was quoted in a May 13th Associated Press piece, “Head of Anti-Fakes Group Closely Tied To Alibaba.” The article reports on global brand backlash following Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s April admission into the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition (IACC) and the AP’s recent investigative finding that IACC head Robert Barchiesi owns stock in Alibaba and has family ties to the organization. The AP article has since been circulated globally by nearly 400 publications, including USA Today and ABC News.
In the piece, Schrader offers additional insight on the repercussions of the IACC’s April decision to admit Alibaba into its organization: “Many brands are concerned that Alibaba’s IACC membership and the personal ties between the parties will affect the IACC’s ability to provide objective criticism of Alibaba in a public setting,” she said.
Schrader, who joined Adams and Reese in 2015 as the firm’s Anti-Counterfeiting Team Leader, previously worked as an executive at the IACC and maintains a close watch on developments in the anti-counterfeiting industry. She has significant experience crafting and executing modern intellectual property enforcement strategies for many of the world’s best-known brands. She has negotiated voluntary agreements on behalf of rights-holders and developed alliances with various intermediaries and major payment processors to improve responsiveness to rights-holders’ reports of online infringement.
In April, Schrader talked with The Wall Street Journal for a similar piece reporting on designer brand Michael Kors’ decision to leave IACC following Alibaba’s controversial admission.
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