How to Protect Your Brand from Counterfeiters?

Counterfeits are still a major reason for brand abuse that many companies endure even today. Counterfeiting is nothing but infringing on the brand’s intellectual property in order to take advantage of the popularity or reputation of the brand. According to the Global Brand Counterfeiting Report, the counterfeit market has reached nearly 1.8 trillion USD this year.

Since counterfeiters have more advanced technologies involved, it is getting harder to tell the difference between an original product and a fake one. With the e-commerce market booming, counterfeiters have found their way into almost every lucrative industry there is.

Due to this, the online presence and reputation of companies has taken a hit. To avoid losing billions to counterfeiters every year, companies have to resort to online brand protection measures.

In this post we will talk about how to protect your brand from counterfeiters:

1. Identify the Infringed Product

It is quite hard to identify counterfeit products. With better technology, counterfeiters have made it nearly impossible to figure out what is fake and what is real. That is why you should think twice before buying a branded product for a much cheaper rate online.

Verify the following before purchasing the product:

a) Seller – It is important to gather information about the seller when browsing products online. Authentic verification, reviews and ratings can help you decide whether the seller might be the best choice.

b) Misspelling or Misprints – This is the easiest giveaway of a counterfeit. Sadly, it has become very difficult to check such things because counterfeiters have gotten smarter. But, with the right research, you can notice even the most minor flaws.

2. Register the Intellectual Property

Registering your intellectual property can be a little expensive, but it pays off. Once a product from your brand has been infringed, you can suffer huge losses and damages. Try registering it in every country you choose to market your goods in. This prevents counterfeiters from taking advantage of your product.

Copyrights, patents, licenses, industrial designs and even company secrets can be registered. Once you have legal backing, you are ready to file lawsuits when you come across counterfeit products.

3. Use Anti-counterfeit Tools

As much as the technology has helped counterfeiters, it has aided brands as well. Today, there is a diverse range of anti-counterfeit tools and programs that help business owners protect their products from scams. These tools are excellent measures that force sellers to be more open and transparent, verify the product and the details of the product.

4. Appoint a Team

You can also appoint a task force or department in your organization that is solely required to spot counterfeit goods. Many e-commerce and digital marketing teams take it upon themselves to protect the brand name from frauds, scams and counterfeits. With this, you will not only be investing in an online brand protection measure, but you will also be saving a significant amount of revenue in the future.

Conclusion

Companies have a lot to gain if they strategically manage to tackle counterfeiting. Brands can lose their reputation, revenue and customers if these counterfeiters are not punished. Get all the required registrations done and invest in anti-counterfeit tools. Taking these measures can make a huge difference to your brand and business.