NTI Santoni, Inc. is a licensed private investigation firm (California PI # 12689). The company, through its specialized legal investigation brands Santoni Investigations and National Trademark Investigations, provides services in the areas of intellectual property, consumer law, insurance and claims. The firm is also active in addressing the problem of counterfeit goods through its Is It Fake? project. NTI Santoni has offices in Los Angeles and Orange County, California, and provides services to clients nationwide.

Management Team

Michael Santoni, President

Michael Santoni is a veteran investigator who has served as president of Santoni Investigations since 1980, and National Trademark Investigations (NTI) since 2001. He is an expert in insurance investigations, including workers' compensation, AOE/COE, surveillance, background investigations, interviews, locating individuals, asset investigations and in difficult service of process. Mike’s role at NTI includes personally conducting intellectual property investigations such as trademark clearance, licensure compliance, anti-counterfeiting, trademark acquisition and negotiated domain name acquisition. He earned his Bachelor's degree from California State University at Long Beach and is an individually licensed private investigator (PI 24268) by the California State Department of Consumer Affairs, Bureau of Security and Investigative Services. He is an active member of industry organizations including the California Association of Licensed Investigators (CALI), the Southern California Fraud Investigators Association, the International Trademark Association (INTA) and the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition (IACC), and has been featured as a speaker at numerous industry conferences.

Timothy Santoni, CPI, Vice President

Timothy Santoni is vice president and head of operations. Since joining the company in 2001, Tim has investigated many workers' compensation cases, many of which have resulted in evidence of fraud being subsequently referred to the California Department of Insurance and local District Attorneys for prosecution. Tim has directed thousands of undercover purchases and provided declarations in support of the issuance of temporary restraining orders and seizure orders in anti-counterfeiting matters, and has coordinated many raids for the seizure of counterfeit goods based on court orders. He also assists brand owners with the preparation of anti-counterfeit programs, including brand manuals to assist investigators and law enforcement to readily identify counterfeit items and consulting with brand owners and luxury goods manufacturers on loss prevention strategies. He is a recognized expert in anti-counterfeit civil seizures and has served as an expert witness on the topic.Tim holds a Bachelor’s degree from Point Loma Nazarene University and is a licensed private investigator and registered process server in the state of California, and has earned his certified private investigator designation (CPI) from the California Association of Licensed Investigators (CALI). He is an active member of the California Association of Licensed Investigators (CALI), the International Trademark Association (INTA), the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition (IACC) and is a Fellow of the Council on Litigation Management (CLM).

DJ Brooks, Director of Investigations

DJ’s extensive background in investigations and national security matters includes more than 25 years in evidence acquisition and analysis. His background with private investigation firms since 2001 includes senior roles covering criminal defense, insurance fraud, and intellectual property case work. DJ’s work in criminal defense resulted in an unbroken success record for cases he investigated. As an intellectual property investigator, DJ has assisted in the discreet assessment and acquisition of hundreds of domain names, 98% of which are transferred to the client’s registrar account within 14 days at a savings of more than 60% from initial asking price. In the course of his intellectual property investigations, DJ conducts covert due diligence regarding the nature and scope of the IP use (such as sales channels and volume), and identifies whether infringement exists to support a client’s desired outcomes or which could restrain a client from a successful USPTO action, such as registration or impeachment of a mark registration based on abandonment or fraud. As head of investigations at NTI Santoni, DJ manages investigative resources, heads training and quality assurance initiatives, and works closely with clients to ensure investigation objectives and budgets are met. DJ holds a Bachelor’s degree from California State University at Long Beach and studied law at Western State University College of Law, in addition to certificates in Arbitration and Mediation and International Marketing from the University of California, Irvine. He has consulted extensively on investigative strategy issues, is a licensed private investigator, a licensed public notary, and a registered process server in the state of California. He is an active member in the International Trademark Association (INTA), and the National Association of Public Notaries.