Detection of Trademark Infringements by Private Investigators

Case Study: Trademark Violations in Brothel Advertising – Duisburg Detective on Assignment in the Establishment

The operators of the entertainment venue on the Dutch border certainly demonstrated a sense of humour when they adopted the brand name of a German airline, along with its logo and a marketing slogan, and repurposed them for blatant brothel advertising. Unfortunately for them, the creator and trademark owner understandably had little desire to see her brand associated with sex work. She therefore engaged Kurtz Investigations Duisburg, via a law firm, to verify whether her injunction against the unauthorised use of the trademark was actually being observed. Specifically, according to a Düsseldorf court ruling, the altered trademark and modified slogan were prohibited from use "in commercial traffic for competitive purposes in the services of a brothel-like establishment" as well as for operating a sauna club, commercial room rentals, hotel and catering services, and particularly for party events.

Since the unlawful advertising primarily took place via traditional, i.e., analogue, channels, compliance with the court order had to be checked on-site at the Dutch border. Moreover, the airline’s lawyers indicated there was concrete reason to believe that the prohibited advertising continued to be used inside the premises. Accordingly, one of our Duisburg commercial detectives was tasked with attending the brothel personally during a party event.

Detective Deployment in the “Scene”

For this assignment, the operations team quickly selected a seasoned operative from the “scene”: an investigator from our commercial detective agency in Duisburg who, before qualifying as an IHK-certified detective, had gained extensive experience as a security professional, including working as a bouncer for brothels in the Ruhr area. He is therefore highly familiar with the “milieu,” knows how to behave discreetly, and, most importantly, how to encourage informality in such establishments to obtain information.

Contrary to what one might expect from a brothel party event, the gathering did not take place solely in the evening or night but began in the morning. When our Duisburg detective arrived at noon, all parking spaces were occupied, and the crowd was so large that two security personnel were stationed to manage traffic and direct visitors to a nearby sports club car park. Upon entering the brothel, the detective immediately noticed a poster behind the reception desk displaying the three trademark violations prohibited by the court order: name, logo, and slogan. As the client requested complete documentation of all violations, the work was far from over: our Duisburg private investigator paid the entrance fee and the mandatory consumption charge for food and beverages. In return, one of the receptionists explained the terms for sexual services during the party (intercourse from €50) and emphasised that neither video nor photography was permitted. According to prior consultations with industry experts, the attending women also paid an entry fee so they could be classified as female guests, making it harder to prosecute the operators under § 180a StGB “Promotion of Prostitution.” Allegedly, the brothel, which marketed itself as a “sauna club,” did not profit from individual sexual services, deriving its income solely from entry fees and consumables.

Theme Party: Boarding Time in the “Sauna Club”

After the informative reception the Duisburg private detective went to the changing area to put on the white robe and white sandals provided by the staff on entry. He noticed that even the changing cubicles were equipped with dome cameras. Dressed in the prescribed attire, the investigator entered the main “party” area. Around 70 male guests were already present, with roughly 35 women opposite them. The women were all dressed in striking uniform outfits: a sexualised version of the typical cabin crew uniform of the client airline. This observation was doubtless of great interest to our client, even though the uniforms did not bear brand names or logos.

The Duisburg operative continued to survey the premises and discovered that everything was unusually clean and well organised — the operation clearly ran to a plan; the continued use of the contested logos and word plays could not therefore be dismissed as inadvertent. Nevertheless, the motifs appeared on at least four further posters in the guest area, where the programme schedule was described using aviation vocabulary, for example “11:00 Bordingtime [sic] and Check-in”.

Detective Overhears Unrepentant Club Operator

After his overview of the rooms the investigator from our detective agency decided to take a seat in the buffet tent in order to observe operations under the pretext of dining unobtrusively and without being approached by the women. He sat at a table with two other men and was shortly rewarded for his approach: a man in casual clothes wearing a club T-shirt, who had earlier been seen giving instructions, joined the table and began talking to the others. The conversation quickly touched on the subject of the court order issued to our client. The two interlocutors appeared familiar with the matter and it soon emerged that the casually dressed man was the operator in person.

He claimed to have only become aware of the court ruling the previous day. He argued that, on the one hand, it had been impossible to remove the existing trademark infringements in time, and on the other hand he did not care, since the airline had rights only to its own marks and slogans, not to his adapted versions — an, of course, absurd view, but one that found a sympathetic audience in the two men. He even mused about going to the press if he were to be fined, thereby “creating huge publicity for my establishment”. After the conversation the Duisburg detective followed the club operator to hold a one-to-one discussion and elicit further relevant information, but the pimp, who did not wish to be regarded as such, diverted into a room marked “private” and did not reappear before the end of the operation.

Brothel with Multi-Million Turnover

By the afternoon, and thus at the scheduled end of the on-site inspection, the private investigator had accumulated further observations. The number of simultaneously present male guests rose gradually to well over one hundred and the number of female service providers to around fifty. As many did not remain all day and some left immediately after their service, it was not possible reliably to extrapolate the total visitor throughput from the observations made. However, our Duisburg commercial detective had already learned before deployment that the club generated several million euros in annual turnover. The theme party proved popular. It should be noted that not every male guest went to a room with a woman; the investigator repeatedly observed groups of men conversing about business in a relaxed atmosphere and occasionally using the wellness area.

When no further material findings were to be expected and the budget limit approached, the operative ended the assignment. Back at the office he prepared his investigation report, which the team at Kurtz Detective Agency Duisburg then forwarded, after editorial review, to the law firm representing the aggrieved airline.

Note

In order to safeguard discretion and the personal rights of clients and target persons, all names and locations in this case report have been altered beyond recognition.