Intellectual Property (IP) has become one of the most important and sought-after commodities by all nations of the world. IP theft has grown considerably in recent years resulting in vast economic losses. Experts estimate that product counterfeiting has a global economic impact of over $500 billion per year. Many terrorist groups use the proceeds from the sale of counterfeits to fund their global operations, and governments lose billions in tax revenue, jobs and investment capital from foreign nationals.
DVDs, CDs, Computer Software and recognizable brand name clothing are just a few products illegally manufactured every day. We conduct undercover field investigations to identify product counterfeiting operations and other unauthorized activities at the manufacturing, distribution, and retail levels. Our investigators maintain a vast network of informants and law enforcement resources, to identify offenders, organized criminal enterprises and trends in the marketplace. Pinpoint focuses on civil or criminal investigations and seizures, but also employs remedies, using in-house and outside counsel.
We work with the client’s Loss Prevention staff, licensees, vendors and business partners to analyze your markets, issues and opportunities and custom design an effective performance-driven solution within your budget. We invite each client to be involved in the process but it is purely at their discretion. Finally, Pinpoint can assist as an expert in complex intellectual property crimes to include theft of trade secrets, unfair competition and violation of employment agreements by persons with technical knowledge.
Pinpoint Investigations & Security Corp. provides these services throughout Staten Island, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx.
Who Uses This Service
- Intellectual-property, trade-secret, technology, employment, and commercial-litigation attorneys and law firms needing independent fact development or field support.
- In-house counsel, brand-protection, corporate-security, compliance, internal-audit, human-resources, information-security, and loss-prevention teams.
- Manufacturers, designers, inventors, software and technology companies, retailers, luxury brands, media companies, publishers, artists, and other owners or licensees of valuable content, products, data, or know-how.
- Businesses investigating former employees, contractors, vendors, distributors, licensees, franchisees, competitors, counterfeiters, or unauthorized sellers.
- Investors, acquirers, insurers, and transaction teams evaluating ownership, use, leakage, disputes, infringement allegations, or enforcement risk involving intellectual property.
When to Contact Pinpoint
Clients usually call when valuable information, creative work, branding, inventions, or products appear to be used, copied, disclosed, diverted, or sold without authorization. Common triggers include:
- Suspected theft or misuse of trade secrets, source code, formulas, designs, customer lists, pricing, confidential files, prototypes, business plans, or other proprietary information by an employee, contractor, vendor, or competitor.
- Counterfeit, look-alike, gray-market, diverted, repackaged, or unauthorized goods offered through websites, marketplaces, social media, storefronts, warehouses, distributors, or resellers.
- Trademark, copyright, trade-dress, domain, brand-impersonation, or online-content concerns requiring preservation and attribution of public evidence.
- Unknown operators, shell entities, related companies, shared addresses, suppliers, payment or shipping indicators, or real-world locations behind an online account or sales channel.
- A dispute involving inventorship, prior use, licensing, ownership, disclosure, access, or a former business relationship that requires witnesses, records, a timeline, or relationship mapping.
- Evidence may disappear, listings may change, inventory may move, or counsel needs verified facts before seeking preservation, discovery, an injunction, a referral, settlement, or another business/legal remedy.
What to Expect
Initial intake: we identify the protected asset or claimed misuse, business and legal objective, subjects and entities, jurisdictions, locations, online channels, known evidence, access history, urgency, confidentiality, counsel involvement, and evidence at risk.
Information requested may include legal names and identifiers; registrations or applications; product images and genuine samples; licenses, agreements, policies, notices, access logs, and client-controlled records; URLs, usernames, listings, communications, invoices, shipping details, timelines, prior reports, and known relationships. Sensitive material is transferred securely.
Investigation plan: agree on lawful public-record and open-source research, corporate/domain/marketplace and relationship analysis, locates, interviews, surveillance or site work, authorized test purchases, product/source documentation, evidence preservation, digital-forensic or technical specialists, fees, expenses, and written authorization.
Fact development: preserve dated online material and source information; verify names, addresses, entities, accounts, sellers, locations, and relationships; document test purchases and chain of custody; locate cooperative witnesses; and connect digital indicators with real-world people, businesses, shipments, or facilities when the evidence supports it.
Deliverable: a confidential chronological report with actions taken, sources, verified findings, observations, screenshots or captures, photographs, secure video links, transaction and item documentation, relationship analysis, exhibits, discrepancies, unresolved leads, and limitations. Counsel determines ownership, validity, infringement, misappropriation, damages, and legal strategy.
Timing and Availability
Urgent preservation of public online content or time-sensitive field evidence may begin the same day or next business day when personnel, scope, written authorization, required information, and the retainer are available. No start time is guaranteed until the assignment is accepted.
A focused domestic public-record, corporate, online, locate, or relationship assignment commonly takes about three to seven business days.
Test purchases depend on seller response, payment, shipping, delivery, inventory, inspection, and any repeat or comparative purchase needed to document the product and supply path.
Surveillance, interviews, site visits, source development, multiple sellers or jurisdictions, large datasets, technical forensics, foreign records, translation, experts, or legal process through counsel can require several weeks and may proceed in phases.
Material developments can be reported promptly; the final report follows verification and organization of assigned records, online evidence, purchases, field notes, photographs, video, interviews, and exhibits.
Why Pinpoint
Experienced supervision: work is supervised by Igor Galitsky, a retired NYPD Sergeant/Supervisor Detective with 23 years of law-enforcement and investigative experience, including financial-crime and money-laundering investigations.
Licensed regional capability: Licensed Private Detective, in New Jersey and New York, with practical New York/New Jersey surveillance, interview, court-record, corporate-record, source, and field-investigation experience.
Digital-to-physical investigation: online accounts, listings, domains, contact details, addresses, companies, associates, shipments, payment indicators, and locations are compared and mapped to identify supported real-world connections.
Evidence discipline: original URLs and source details, dates and times, screenshots or captures, purchases, packaging, shipping labels, photographs, video, notes, and client-provided materials are organized and preserved with documented handling and limitations.
Purpose-driven fieldwork: authorized test purchases, surveillance, site observations, interviews, and source development are matched to counsel’s questions and conducted without unnecessary disclosure or disruption.
Clear, defensible reporting: verified facts, direct observations, allegations, analytical links, possible leads, and unresolved attribution are separated so counsel and decision-makers can use the work without overstatement.
Important Limits
- A private investigator does not decide who legally owns intellectual property or whether a patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret, license, or use is valid, protected, infringed, or misappropriated. Those are legal and technical questions for counsel and qualified experts.
- A username, shared address, domain registration, company filing, image, online post, device indicator, or relationship is not automatically proof that a particular person controlled an account or committed wrongdoing. Identity, timing, access, context, and corroboration matter.
- We do not hack accounts or devices, bypass passwords or privacy settings, use stolen credentials, access private messages without authority, trespass, impersonate law enforcement, unlawfully obtain subscriber/bank/phone/email records, or seize records or property.
- Deleted, anonymous, offshore, private, encrypted, proxy-protected, or rapidly changing online activity may not be attributable through public or authorized sources alone. Compulsory subscriber, platform, financial, or communications records generally require proper legal process through counsel.
- A test purchase, surveillance period, interview, or online capture documents a limited event or time. It may reveal useful facts without showing the full supply chain, total sales, every participant, source code, internal intent, or all prior conduct.
- No investigation can guarantee identification, an admission, removal of content or goods, recovery, an injunction, damages, prosecution, or a litigation result. The report explains what was and was not established within the agreed scope.
A De-identified Example
De-identified matter: Counsel for a manufacturer identified look-alike products and unauthorized brand use across online marketplaces. Seller identities, suppliers, inventory locations, and the relationship among several accounts and companies were unclear.
What we did: We preserved listings and account identifiers; reviewed corporate, domain, address, court, public-record, and open-source information; mapped common contact, shipping, business, and associate indicators; conducted authorized test purchases; documented the transaction, item, packaging, labels, and chain of custody; and used targeted field observations and source follow-up to test the most important links.
General result: The report separated confirmed sellers and locations, supported relationships, product and shipping evidence, unresolved attribution, and limitations. Counsel used the organized evidence to prioritize preservation, additional legal process, enforcement targets, and business protections without treating possible links as proven infringement or liability.
Service area and contact
Pinpoint Investigations & Security Corp. serves Staten Island, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx. Call 718-667-6422 to discuss your needs.
Related services: Corporate Investigations; Litigation Support.
Frequently Asked Questions
What information do you need to start?
Usually the business and legal objective; description of the intellectual property or confidential information; registrations, applications, licenses, policies, or agreements when relevant; genuine product images or samples; subject, company, seller, account, URL, address, and contact identifiers; known evidence and access history; suspected dates and locations; deadline; and authorized client or counsel contacts.
What can an intellectual-property investigation include?
Depending on the lawful scope: online and public-record research, evidence preservation, seller and account attribution, corporate/domain and relationship mapping, locates, interviews, surveillance, site observations, authorized test purchases, product and supply-chain documentation, prior-use or access timeline development, and coordination with digital-forensic, technical, or product experts.
Can you identify an anonymous online seller or account?
Sometimes. We compare lawful public and authorized information such as usernames, contact details, domains, addresses, companies, associates, listings, shipping indicators, transactions, and real-world locations. Attribution is not guaranteed, and restricted platform, subscriber, payment, or communications records may require legal process through counsel.
Can you make a test purchase?
Yes, when authorized and lawful. We document the listing, seller, communications, payment and shipping information available to the purchaser, delivery, packaging, labels, product, photographs, and handling. Testing or opinions about authenticity, composition, patent claims, or technical similarity may require the client or a qualified expert.
How do you preserve online and physical evidence?
We document source URLs and identifiers, dates and times, page or file captures, available metadata, correspondence, transactions, photographs, video, packaging, labels, and item handling. When forensic collection, hashing, devices, source code, or specialized authentication is needed, we coordinate with authorized qualified specialists and counsel.
How long will it take and what will it cost?
A focused domestic records or online assignment commonly takes about three to seven business days. Test purchases, surveillance, interviews, multiple sellers, complex supply chains, foreign jurisdictions, experts, or legal process may take weeks. We work on a retainer basis, and cost depends on scope, urgency, investigators, jurisdictions, field hours, purchases, records, travel, specialists, and reporting.
