Online Brand Protection

As part of our Anti-Counterfeiting practice, we provide online brand protection services.

Intellectual property rights are valuable business assets that may require continuous enforcement. Successful brand names are at risk of getting exploited by counterfeiters hoping to make a money off unsuspecting consumers. With rampant manufacture of Chinese knockoffs and ease of procuring them for sale on numerous Internet platforms, diligent online brand protection is necessary. However, the issues of protection increase with new levels of infringement. Brand owners must monitor resellers, online markets, pay-per-click ads, social media, etc. Therefore, enforcement programs must be robust enough to get results, yet tailored to meet business priorities and fit budgetary needs.

Channels for Protecting Brands Online

To proactively protect trademarks and brand names, we offer comprehensive Internet brand protection services. Online brand protection requires vigilant monitoring of numerous Internet market platforms for adequate protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights.

We provide monitoring of the following, as an example:

Websites
Domain Names
Paid Ads, Pay-Per-Click and similar
Online Marketplaces, such as Amazon, eBay, Overstock
Social Media as well as private stores on Facebook
Apps
Online Business Listings
Internet Articles with Affiliate Links

Our Online Brand Protection Services

We offer watch and monitoring services, as well and custom trademark enforcement and protection programs tailored to client needs. To fully protect a brand, we may also monitor for copyright and patent infringement. Any third party use of another’s intellectual property has the potential to damage brand reputation, so we provide comprehensive IP monitoring services.

Website Monitoring for Brand Protection

Our website monitoring services include in-depth review of competitor websites, including source code, for trademark and copyright infringement. We create enforcement programs for online brand protection. Part of our services include sending cease and desist letters, as well as safeguarding detailed evidence for potential litigation.

Domain Name Monitoring and Defensive Registration

Domain names can be used for brand theft by confusing consumers or redirecting them to counterfeit goods websites. Additionally, cybersquatters are a never-ending ordeal with the massive release of new top-level domain names. Our firm offers worldwide domain name monitoring services for identification of third party infringing registrations. In addition, we assist with Trademark Clearinghouse services to identify new TDL domains entering the marketplace for potential infringement. We believe domain monitoring to be a valuable piece of online brand protection. As part of our domain name services, we also assist with defensive domain name registration and maintenance.

Monitoring of Internet Search Ads, Pay-Per-Click (PPC)

Internet search ads provide infringers with the ability to come up at the top of search results for any search terms they chose to pay for. Many jurisdictions have found that the purchase of another party’s trademark as a keyword does not constitute “use in commerce.” However, whether such use constitutes infringement then depends on whether a likelihood of confusion exists, which is very fact specific. Generally, courts have found keyword bidding alone doesn’t lead to a likelihood of confusion and something more must be present. PPC companies allow bidding on third-party trademarks by direct competitors. PPC companies make huge amounts of money on competitive keyword bidding and likely will not intervene in claims of keyword bidding infringement.

Therefore, trademark owners should pay attention to competitor activities in keyword ads to identify infringing bidders. We monitor competitor ads and build cases of trademark infringement in preparation for litigation if cease and desist letters don’t stop the use.

Monitoring and Watch Services for Online Marketplaces, Social Media, and Apps

Online brand protection includes watch services for identification of resellers on product over all sales platforms on the Internet. While the Internet is vast, infringing use is typically found in the major marketplaces. Investigation of non-authorized resale of product often identifies counterfeit product. We help companies run investigations to obtain evidence on suppliers of counterfeit product to stop the manufacturers.

In addition, authorized resellers of product can violate resale agreements. So, we monitor reseller’s use of marks, copyright, as well as minimum advertising price (MAP) type issues. In addition, we do investigations to identify resellers violating contracts and/or using cheaper counterfeit product in guise of authentic brand inventory.

Our online brand protection and enforcement programs are tailored to our client individual needs. We also help gather concrete evidence against infringers to build trademark litigation cases against third parties. We have developed a six-step program for protecting brands. See our initial post, Importance of Intellectual Property Rights: Increasing Market Share Through Stopping Knockoffs and Infringements, for a complete overview of the above series.