As part of our Anti-Counterfeiting practice, we provide online seller enforcement services.

Successful businesses and brand owners lose significant revenue each year due the counterfeit product sales. The more popular a brand, the more likely it will be targeted by unauthorized online sellers and counterfeiters. The sale of imitation goods can lead to brand reputation harm and loss of goodwill. Therefore, companies often rely on online seller enforcement programs to protect brands and prevent misuse. Likewise, companies using authorized resellers to expand distribution use enforcement programs for monitoring quality and pricing standards.

Our attorneys work closely with clients to develop cost effective and efficient online sales enforcement and misappropriation programs.

Reasons for Online Seller Enforcement Programs

Online sales enforcement typically targets three issues that hurt product owners both in quality concerns as well as lost revenue:

  • Unauthorized Resellers

  • Counterfeit / Imitation Goods Sales

  • Authorized Reseller Violations

Online seller enforcement can be accomplished through agreements, monitoring, processes, as well as other proactive measures.

Online Seller Enforcement Against Unauthorized Sales

The ease of online sales has spurred the concern of unauthorized resellers using online marketplaces such as Amazon.com, ebay, and Overstock.com.  These marketplaces provide a quick and easy manner for anyone to sell products online without much effort. As such, unauthorized resellers of product can easily pop up in various marketplaces. These resellers can often create issues with customers in service quality as well as strip away at brand reputation. Therefore, monitoring of online sales of products become important for brand owners.

We create online seller enforcement plans for companies seeking to identify harmful unauthorized resellers.  Our plans include regular monitoring of various online marketplace platforms to identify third-party sellers. In addition, we offer enforcement services, such as:

  • Cease and Desist Letters

  • File IP Infringement Takedown Requests

  • Trademark Infringement Complaints

  • Copyright Infringement Complaints

  • DMCA Takedowns

  • Trademark and Counterfeiting Litigation

Programs for Online Seller Enforcement of Counterfeit & Imitation Product Sales

While most people can spot a counterfeit product due to price, pirates are finding ways to deceive consumers through “flash sales” and similar ploys. Such counterfeit marketing can cause considerable economic loss of profits and market share by the product owner. Additionally, counterfeit goods damage brand reputation due to quality and service issues.

We work closely with our clients to create effective anti-counterfeiting measures,  strategies, and implement proactive enforcement programs. As part of our anti-counterfeiting programs, we offer legal services such as:

  • Monitor for Counterfeiting

  • Review and Draft Manufacturer Agreements

  • Create Online Education Pages about Brand Authenticity as well as How To Spot A Counterfeit

  • Review Internal Processes for Counterfeit Prevention

  • Record Trademarks as well as other IP Rights with U.S. Customs and Border Patrol

  • Conduct Investigations

  • Federal Litigation for Counterfeiting

Online Seller Enforcement Plans for Authorized Sellers

Authorized resellers provide an effective way for businesses to expand brand distribution and sales. However, it is important for brand owners to monitor resellers to help ensure maintenance of quality and pricing standards.

We custom create enforcement packages for brand protection and monitoring of authorized resellers, including legal services such as:

  • Draft and Enforcement of Minimum Advertised Pricing (MAP) Agreements

  • Create and Enforce Reseller Agreements

  • Create Brand Quality Standards Guidelines

  • Online Monitoring for Pricing and Quality Standards

We help companies develop anti-counterfeiting enforcement plans to fight the manufacture and sale of illegal goods. Additionally, we offer proactive solutions designed to help clients prevent online sales infringement issues from authorized resellers.

Online Seller Litigation

Read more about our litigation services at our intellectual property litigation overview page and our business litigation overview page, including Trademark Infringement, Domain Name Litigation, UDRP Domain Name Proceedings, Breach of Contract Litigation, and Fraud Litigation.

Additional Insights Regarding Online Seller Legal Issues

For more information on online seller legal issues, see our Legal Insights and Industry Solutions pages.