I'm a KS-holic and I once asked the sales assistant at the Kate Spade Boutique how to tell whether a bag was real or fake.... One of the things she mentioned was the serial number...
You can usually find it in a corner in the interior pocket...it's usually a black tag, with a number and silver threading ~ Kate Spade sales assistant
Here's more info from the KS site...http://www.katespade.com/helpdesk/index.jsp?display=corp&subdisplay=message