Lawyers, Forensic Investigation, Businesses

Counterfeit Key-Codes

The lifeblood of most organizations is their intellectual property. This is especially the case in the information technology space.

A large telecom company asked us to help with an investigation into a US based company that was selling key-codes that they weren’t supposed to have access to. The key-codes could turn on multiple features in the client’s hardware. The client typically charges thousands of dollars for the key-codes, but the infringers were charging $25 – $50 for access to the same features.

Research and investigation led us to what the infringers were doing, followed by an order from the court, which allowed a search and seizure of their premises.

We reviewed over 80,000 emails and several thousand accounting documents, we were able to establish how the company obtained the key-codes, who its customers were and how much it had sold. The matter was settled out of court and the client was able to recoup several hundred thousand dollars. More importantly, this case deterred this type of activity within the grey and black market.