Protecting The ‘Picket Master’: How Salt City Steel Recovered Revenue & Secured Their Brand

Weston Spencer, owner of Salt City Steel in Salt Lake City, invented the PICKET MASTER ® PRO - a unique precision layout tool for the fabrication industry. For six years, his family-owned business grew steadily - until one day a viral TikTok video changed their trajectory. 

Almost overnight, the demand for his product skyrocketed - new adverts and listings appeared online, new enquiries came in - but were they all for the real Picket Master?

The double- edged sword of viral success

In the digital commerce landscape, massive visibility often acts as a beacon for bad actors. 

Counterfeiters had scraped Salt City Steel’s original marketing videos and images, using them to run unauthorized ads across multiple social media platforms. These ads directed buyers to fake rogue websites selling low-quality knockoffs for as little as $4, drastically undercutting the genuine, American-made Picket Master tool.

The cost of stolen visibility

For a specialized family-run business, trust is the ultimate currency. Customers were purchasing what they believed was a genuine Picket Master, only to receive a subpar product. 

Weston began receiving several messages a day from customers reporting fake links and listings. The counterfeiters were leveraging Salt City Steel’s own marketing efforts to siphon revenue and damage the brand's reputation.

Dismantling the network 

Corsearch identified the threat and reached out to Salt City Steel with a clear plan to stop the infringement. 

For Weston, the priority was immediate: stop the unauthorized use of his images and shut down the fake websites.

“You guys came through with what you said you would do, which doesn't happen a lot anymore.You came way above what we were expecting to tell you the truth.”

Weston Spencer - Owner of Salt City Steel

Partnering with Corsearch’s Revenue Recovery 360 team, Salt City Steel gained the expertise needed to act on what matters. Corsearch handled the complex process of identifying the network of infringing sites and executing takedowns, allowing Weston to focus on scaling his business to meet genuine demand while putting his mind at ease that a solution existed to his problem.

Turning infringement into restitution  

With a Revenue Recovery program in place, the unauthorized advertising stopped, the network of pirated sites were dismantled, and customer complaints of fake links dropped to zero.

"The amount that we recovered and recouped from our losses was way beyond what we thought would happen. It’s going to be a nice chunk to help our kids out in the future to be a nest egg for them."

^{Weston Spencer - Owner of Salt City Steel}

More importantly, the enforcement action went beyond just guarding the brand - Corsearch pursued the counterfeiters through strategic legal channels to seize back illicit profits. 

Key results for Salt City Steel

• Successfully removed unauthorized social media advertisements
• Shut down the network of counterfeit websites
• Recovered significant lost revenue through strategic litigation
• Restored brand confidence and customer trust for a family-owned brand

Building a foundation for the future

Today, Salt City Steel operates on a global stage with the confidence that their intellectual property is secure. 

For other founders facing similar challenges, Weston offers clear advice: do not let the fear of counterfeiting stop you from building your business. Start your company, scale your product, and partner with experts to protect your value when the time comes.

"They reached out to me out of the blue and said, “Hey, we want to help you”, and it sounded too good to be true, but you know what? It wasn't. In the end, it was pretty awesome."

Weston Spencer - Owner of Salt City Steel

Corsearch provided the intelligence and scale necessary to turn a critical vulnerability into a protected asset, ensuring Salt City Steel can continue to innovate and grow.

Learn more about Revenue Recovery 360 from Corsearch.