or make excuses like "a gift from a friend, but unfortunately too large". However, we do not take hide and seek games like this seriously – and neither do the courts.

Can I sell my used T-shirts by Christian Audigier, for example, on the Internet?

If they are original and were obtained lawfully, there is of course no problem. Second hand fakes are a different matter; here, I can only refer you to the difficulty in differentiating between private and commercial trade and the often helpful yardstick of the quantity sold. As a solicitor, I would advise caution. And there is one more thing that is important to bear in mind: anyone who takes a photo of a fake T-shirt and positions the photographs on ebay, for example, is infringing upon the copyright of the original motifs – and here, there is no decision to be made between private or commercial.

When should TFR serve notice?

If we can clearly prove that trademark infringement has taken place. We check cases carefully and there is no "bagatelle threshold" for our intervention because brand piracy is a mass phenomenon. Here, it is also a little unfair to speak of mass claimants in a derogatory manner, since we are facing a large-scale breach of the law, which we should not watch without acting.

Why do the fees for serving notice seem so horrendous?

Notice served to professional counterfeiters and retailers is only an attempt to reach an agreement outside the courts. The amount of the fees for notice served corresponds to the value of the brand and the responsibility and risk of liability that we as solicitors take on in the area of trademark infringement. A file we keep can become very thick because extensive written correspondence

accompanies it in which we become immersed, using all possible means to abstract the claim of our client. The charge "A lot of money for a simple letter" does not apply.

Here is a case that appeared in the media: A woman sells a brand shirt she bought privately in the USA on ebay in Germany and a claim was made against her?

At this point it must be made clear that this case was not driven by TFR. The facts of the case are hard for a judicial layperson to understand and were explained in a very sloppy manner by the media. In terms of trademark law, this was clearly a case of private sale, i.e. it was not illegal. However, the publishing of a photo of the T-shirt was an unauthorised copy and was therefore a violation of copyright. With copyright, there is no differentiation between private sellers and commercial trade. However, we must look at this special case in more depth: If the woman had bought the original shirt in Europe,

it would not have been a problem, since the copyright would have been "exhausted" in this case; this means that it has been brought into circulation in Europe in accordance with the wishes of the creator and then, photos are permitted in connection with a legal resale. A holidaymaker should therefore be extremely careful if posting their brand new purchases on ebay.

Who are the culprits or the brand pirates?

Here, many inexperienced but also commercial retailers are involved as well as tightly organised bands with criminal structures. These systematically seek out their victims, who make their names, ebay accounts and bank accounts available and receive a low fee per sale. You would not believe how much inventiveness these people use.

Here, ebay accounts are set up in the names of people who are dead or unsuspecting individuals unknown to the perpetrators. Once, we had an entire volleyball team for which the perpetrator had simply taken contact addresses from the Internet. In all of these cases, we remain static with regard to the costs. However, there are also scores of retailers acting in good faith who fall into the hands of crooks. The crooks forge certificates of authenticity and claim that the original goods come from EU distributors. And then, last but not least, there are simply despairing people who don’t care about anything, who have nothing more to lose and who simply continue with brand piracy knowing that nothing more can be collected from them.

Who can you still count on in your struggle against counterfeiters?

We also co-operate with customs officials, who check suspicious shipments from typical counterfeiter countries. We provide them with the necessary information and you would be astonished at how professionally they operate. They have mobile terminals on which the relevant information is stored. Thus, it is possible to intercept even larger shipments. The customs workers detain the shipment and we can check it. (Sentence removed, since the topic is too complicated in this context)