Capturing Fire from the Dragon's Breath
A cross-border counterfeit investigation at the Canton Trade Fair — tracing lighter manufacturers in China for a world-famous brand.
"The thrill and learning involved in that Investigation is still unparalleled!"
One of the most interesting assignments InstaQuest pulled off was in China. This was 2016. A world-famous cigarette lighter brand approached us to conduct an investigation in China. The objective was to visit China, identify lighter dealers, trace back the manufacturers, and find out the ones that are manufacturing counterfeit lighters by visiting their factories.
It was a unique challenge considering none of us IQ'ers spoke Cantonese or Mandarin. However, with a solid strategy and sharp tactics, our field team managed to visit the Canton Trade Fair in Guangzhou — the biggest trade fair in Asia — and identified the dealers showcasing lighters infringing the designs of our Client.
The next step was to connect with the manufacturers and then identify the ones involved in manufacturing lookalike and counterfeit cigarette lighters. Which we did. Once our team returned from China after handing over all the evidence of the factories involved, the Client arranged for these factories to be raided and the accused were detained.
A complete cross-border investigation — from trade fair intelligence to factory identification — culminating in coordinated raids by the client's enforcement team.
Need cross-border investigation?
Our team operates beyond borders to trace counterfeit sources and protect your brand.