Protecting your brand from counterfeits and online infringements can be overwhelming if you don’t know where to start. When you understand the risk of counterfeits, though, you will see that developing your Intellectual Property strategy is essential to protect your brand. To make this process easier, we’re sharing the top tips for protecting your brand and image in the marketplace.
Getting the full picture
If you only focus on manually monitoring and enforcing your Intellectual Property on a few marketplaces, your business is left vulnerable to bad actors. With a rapid pace of growth, marketplaces that don’t seem like a problem now can quickly spiral out of control and divert your sales.
New marketplaces are growing to be large threats to brands as more scammers sell counterfeits online. That’s why it is vital you understand the size and reach of these marketplaces so you properly allocate your Intellectual Property enforcement resources.
Build relationships with the marketplaces
Ecommerce marketplaces can help you take down infringements and deal with counterfeits much faster if you have already built a relationship with the platform.
As a brand owner, here’s what you should keep in mind to effectively strengthen your relationships with marketplaces:
Do not wait until it is too late
Protect your brand the right way from the start. Seek registration of the proper trademarks and copyrights on all the intellectual property for your brand. This will enable platforms and any other necessary authorities to support your requests to take down counterfeit products and other infringements.
Be proactive and monitor your intellectual property
There is a misconception that all marketplaces are aware of the counterfeits on their platforms. In reality, it is very difficult for marketplaces to identify counterfeits and Intellectual Property infringements on their platform unless brands bring listings to their attention. It’s essential to monitor marketplaces for counterfeits yourself, as well as report infringements when they occur.
Provide all Intellectual Property documentation/registrations
A marketplace cannot take down counterfeit products or stolen content without proper proof that infringement has occurred. Therefore, it is essential to provide all relevant documentation, authorizations, and any other distinguishing factors proving your ownership of the infringed-upon content in your report.
Work and communicate with marketplacesCooperating and communicating openly with marketplaces will improve your chances of getting the proper assistance when infringement occurs. The more brands report bad actors to marketplaces, the more it will negatively impact their seller accounts and ultimately get them removed from the platform. By actively communicating with marketplaces, brand owners can deal with infringements quickly and begin to disrupt fraudulent activity to take back their brands.
Getting the full picture
If you only focus on manually monitoring and enforcing your Intellectual Property on a few marketplaces, your business is left vulnerable to bad actors. With a rapid pace of growth, marketplaces that don’t seem like a problem now can quickly spiral out of control and divert your sales.
New marketplaces are growing to be large threats to brands as more scammers sell counterfeits online. That’s why it is vital you understand the size and reach of these marketplaces so you properly allocate your Intellectual Property enforcement resources.
Build relationships with the marketplaces
Ecommerce marketplaces can help you take down infringements and deal with counterfeits much faster if you have already built a relationship with the platform.
As a brand owner, here’s what you should keep in mind to effectively strengthen your relationships with marketplaces:
Do not wait until it is too late
Protect your brand the right way from the start. Seek registration of the proper trademarks and copyrights on all the intellectual property for your brand. This will enable platforms and any other necessary authorities to support your requests to take down counterfeit products and other infringements.
Be proactive and monitor your intellectual property
There is a misconception that all marketplaces are aware of the counterfeits on their platforms. In reality, it is very difficult for marketplaces to identify counterfeits and Intellectual Property infringements on their platform unless brands bring listings to their attention. It’s essential to monitor marketplaces for counterfeits yourself, as well as report infringements when they occur.
Provide all Intellectual Property documentation/registrations
A marketplace cannot take down counterfeit products or stolen content without proper proof that infringement has occurred. Therefore, it is essential to provide all relevant documentation, authorizations, and any other distinguishing factors proving your ownership of the infringed-upon content in your report.
Work and communicate with marketplacesCooperating and communicating openly with marketplaces will improve your chances of getting the proper assistance when infringement occurs. The more brands report bad actors to marketplaces, the more it will negatively impact their seller accounts and ultimately get them removed from the platform. By actively communicating with marketplaces, brand owners can deal with infringements quickly and begin to disrupt fraudulent activity to take back their brands.