C4IP Coalition Updates: December 2025

December Highlights: Counterfeits and the Hidden Risks of Holiday Shopping

For many American families, shopping is a central part of the holiday season. But as holiday spending ramps up, so does the threat posed by counterfeit goods — knockoffs that falsely claim to be genuine products. Counterfeit products violate the intellectual property rights of legitimate inventors and businesses, and they are both a persistent drain on the innovation economy and a serious danger to consumers.

These fake products often bypass safety standards and quality testing, exposing families to dangers like electronics that catch fire and cosmetic products that contain toxic chemicals. Yet to unwary consumers, it is often difficult to distinguish a counterfeit product from a genuine one because counterfeiters often use other companies’ trademarks, such as logos and names, without authorization. As a result, counterfeit products harm real, innovative companies too — both by siphoning away their legitimate sales and harming their reputations when products fail. In turn, that stifles innovation, leaving legitimate innovators with less revenue with which to continue developing safe and useful products.

Unfortunately, counterfeits are a growing problem. According to recent estimates, these goods account for nearly $500 billion in global trade. In fiscal year 2025, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported seizing nearly 79 million counterfeit items valued at an estimated $7.3 billion.

Throughout December, C4IP worked to raise awareness of these harms and the importance of strong IP enforcement to combat counterfeiting:

• C4IP Executive Director Frank Cullen was interviewed by KSL-TV in Salt Lake City on counterfeit holiday gifts, highlighting how fake products harm consumers and innovators and offering advice on how to avoid purchasing counterfeits.
• He offered further advice on avoiding counterfeit goods in a KSL-TV article on what recourse consumers have if they order an item online that never arrives or does not arrive as expected.
• Cullen was also interviewed by FOX13 News in Salt Lake City, where he underscored the fact that even reputable online marketplaces can allow for the sale of fake products, and that these platforms — like consumers — have an interest in cracking down on counterfeiting.

You can find additional resources on the dangers of counterfeit products here and below:

• Blog: ‘Tis the Season —  of Counterfeits?
• Op-Ed: ‘The stakes can’t be overstated’: IP theft in the US
• Letter: C4IP Letter to House Judiciary Committee on SHOP SAFE Act
• Press Release: Council for Innovation Promotion Celebrates the Introduction of the SHOP SAFE Act in the House of Representatives

Additional Coalition Updates

• On December 22, C4IP Chief Operating Officer John Cabeca published an opinion essay in RealClearHealth cautioning that recently introduced bills in Congress appear to take cues from countries that have allowed misguided policies to impede their ability to foster robust IP-driven innovation.
• On December 12, C4IP Board Member Gary Locke — former U.S. Ambassador to China and Secretary of Commerce — published an opinion essay in Fortune underscoring the need for patent subject matter eligibility reform, PTAB reform, and stronger injunctive relief for the United States to stay ahead of China’s rapidly growing biotech sector.

“If the United States wants to compete, it must restore trust in the intellectual property rights that enable inventors to turn bold ideas into revolutionary products.”

• On December 9, C4IP Executive Director Frank Cullen sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property ahead of its hearing on protecting copyrights held by musical artists, urging lawmakers to advance the American Music Fairness Act of 2025 to ensure that these creators are fairly compensated when their recordings are broadcast on radio.
  • C4IP’s letter and views were mentioned in IPWatchdog’s article on the subcommittee hearing.
• On December 4, C4IP Executive Director Frank Cullen sent a letter to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative urging the U.S. policymakers currently negotiating trade with the European Union to secure strong IP commitments and steer European leaders away from harmful anti-IP policies like the EU General Pharmaceutical Legislation and (now-withdrawn) proposed regulation on standards-essential patents.
• On December 4, C4IP Co-Chair and former USPTO Director Andrei Iancu discussed the importance of strong IP rights to innovation in a radio interview on SiriusXM’s The David Webb Show.
• On December 4, C4IP published a blog post debunking a recent STAT article by Tahir Amin, the CEO of the Initiative for Medicines, Access, and Knowledge (I-MAK), which falsely claimed that patent system abuses are leading to higher drug costs.
• On December 2, C4IP Executive Director Frank Cullen submitted a public comment to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office responding to proposed revisions to the rules of practice before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board — commending the proposed rules’ aim of reducing duplicative and repetitive patent challenges and urging the Administration to support permanent PTAB reform with endorsement of the PREVAIL Act.
  • C4IP’s comments were quoted extensively in IPWatchdog’s article on the proposed rule changes, which summarized C4IP’s input as well as comments from other pro-innovation groups and members of Congress.
  • C4IP’s comments were also cited in Law360’s coverage of the proposed rule changes and public reactions.
• On December 1, C4IP Executive Director Frank Cullen issued a statement applauding the USPTO’s revised inventorship guidance for AI-assisted inventions, emphasizing that continued AI innovation relies on policymakers treating AI as a tool used by inventors rather than a basis for creating additional procedural hurdles to obtain a patent.