Counterfeit seller case file: what to hand your lawyer

Why counsel needs a case file, not a folder of screenshots

When a brand owner finds counterfeits on a marketplace, the first reflex is to report the listing. The listing disappears, the seller reappears under a new name, and months later outside counsel is asked to act on a folder of screenshots, forwarded e-mails and a photo of a parcel. Much of it cannot be dated, attributed to a specific seller or shown to be unchanged since it was collected.

A case file solves that. It is a structured package that answers the questions your lawyer, the court and the other side will ask: who sold what, where, when and at what price, how you know the goods are fake, and how you know the evidence was not edited afterwards. This guide follows the order in which counsel usually reads it.

What EU law lets counsel do with good evidence

Directive 2004/48/EC on the enforcement of intellectual property rights gives rights holders procedural tools across the EU, but each one starts with the evidence you already have:

• Article 6: once you present reasonably available evidence supporting your claim, the court may order the other party to produce evidence under its control; a reasonable sample of a substantial number of copies may be treated as reasonable evidence.
• Article 7: even before proceedings start, the court may order measures to preserve evidence, such as a detailed description, samples or seizure of the infringing goods, if necessary without hearing the other party where there is a demonstrable risk that evidence will be destroyed.
• Article 8: the court may order information on the origin and distribution networks of the infringing goods, including names and addresses of suppliers.

In other words, a well-documented first set of evidence is what opens the door to everything else. In the Czech Republic these tools are implemented by Act No. 221/2006 Coll. on the enforcement of industrial property rights; other member states have their own implementing laws, so let counsel choose the route.

Step 1: identify the seller (DSA Article 30)

Under the Digital Services Act, online marketplaces must collect traceability information from traders before letting them sell to consumers in the EU, and must display part of it where the products are presented:

• Name, address, telephone number and e-mail address of the trader.
• The trade register in which the trader is registered and its registration number, if any.
• The trader's self-certification that it only offers products that comply with EU law.
• Data the marketplace holds but does not display (identification document, payment account), which counsel may seek from the platform or through a court order under national law.

Capture the seller profile, the seller information or imprint page and the shop's listing overview, not just the product page. If the displayed details look false or incomplete, record that too: under Article 30 the marketplace must make best efforts to assess whether the information is reliable and complete, and gaps are useful when counsel writes to the platform.

Step 2: capture the listings and the shop as one session

Counterfeit sellers edit prices, swap photos and relist under new IDs as soon as a notice arrives. Capture before you report, and capture the context, not a single frame:

• Each listing with title, photos, price, stock, shipping origin and listing ID.
• Use of your trademark, logo or product photos in titles, images and descriptions.
• The seller's other listings, because the scale matters for damages and for Article 6.
• Reviews or buyer questions that mention quality problems or the word “replica”.
• Search results showing the listing when someone searches for your brand.

Each capture should record the URL, the date and time and the technical context (HTML, network log, certificates), and it should be sealed so that any later change is detectable.

Step 3: document the test purchase end to end

A test purchase turns “this looks fake” into an examined product. Plan it with counsel so that the buyer, the delivery address and the examination are documented:

• Capture the listing at the moment of the order, including the price paid.
• Keep the order confirmation, invoice and payment record as files.
• Photograph the parcel on arrival: label, sender address, tracking number, seals.
• Photograph the product and packaging next to an original, including serial numbers or codes.
• Have the brand's product expert write up and date the examination, and keep the item stored.

Step 4: seal the files, not only the web pages

Much of the decisive evidence is not a web page: invoices, order e-mails saved as PDF, product photos, the expert's examination report, exports from the marketplace. If they sit in a shared folder, nobody can show later that they were not changed.

Seal them with a qualified electronic timestamp when you collect them. Under Article 41(2) of the eIDAS Regulation a qualified timestamp enjoys the presumption of the accuracy of its date and time and of the integrity of the data it covers, and under Article 41(3) it is recognised as such in all member states. The presumption covers time and integrity, not the truth of the content, and that is exactly what a case file needs from it.

Step 5: structure the file the way counsel reads it

Hand over one package with a short index, not a dump. A practical structure:

• 1. Summary: rights relied on (registration numbers), seller, marketplaces, period, estimated scale.
• 2. Seller identification: Article 30 data as displayed, captures of the seller pages.
• 3. Listings: sealed captures and an index table with one row per listing (URL, date, price, ID).
• 4. Test purchase: order documents, photos, examination report, where the item is stored.
• 5. Notices sent: takedown or DSA notices and the platform's responses.
• 6. Verification: how each item can be checked independently (hashes, timestamp tokens, verifier).

Which GetProofAnchor option fits

We provide evidence preservation, not legal advice; the strategy belongs to your counsel. Three options, depending on volume:

• Forensic Browser (Windows, from 290 EUR per year excl. VAT, 350.90 EUR incl. 21 % VAT): browse the seller's shop normally, logged in if needed, and seal the whole session, many pages, into one package with one qualified timestamp. It also seals files such as invoices, photos and reports from your computer, a URL or the downloads panel. Output: a PDF with an embedded qualified timestamp that validates in Adobe Acrobat Reader, or a ZIP for experts.
• Assisted Capture: we capture it for you. Incident Pack, up to 15 URLs, 349 EUR excl. VAT (422.29 EUR incl. VAT) within 6 hours; Evidence Pack, up to 5 URLs, 149 EUR excl. VAT (180.29 EUR incl. VAT) within 3 hours.
• Web app: capture single listings by URL or with the browser extension; 9 EUR excl. VAT (10.89 EUR incl. VAT) for 3 proofs, monthly plans from 19 EUR excl. VAT.

Every package can be verified offline with the open-source gpa-verify tool, without relying on us.

Mistakes that weaken the file

• Reporting the listing before capturing it.
• Capturing only the product page and not the seller information.
• Cropped screenshots without URL, date or listing ID.
• A test purchase without photos of the parcel and the sender details.
• Files renamed, re-saved or edited after collection, with no record of the originals.

FAQ

Sources

• Directive 2004/48/EC on the enforcement of intellectual property rights (Art. 6–8)
• Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, Digital Services Act (Art. 30)
• Regulation (EU) No 910/2014, eIDAS (Art. 41)
• Czech Act No. 221/2006 Coll. on the enforcement of industrial property rights (in Czech)