Online takedowns require brand owners to own registered trade marks

Social media and e-commerce sites are increasingly important to brand owners. A lot of retail and marketing is online—and that's exactly where anybody hijacking your brand will likely be found. Now you can fight them where you find them, which is a welcome development for brand owners.

Online platforms increasingly have portals for recognising, managing and enforcing brand rights on the platform. This provides real redress for brand owners. The best part is it's low-cost, fast and responsive. In some cases the protection is actually proactive, with the platform scanning for violations. The essential first step is securing demonstrable brand ownership via registered trademarks.

What rights are covered?

Registered trade mark rights are the focus, but IP protection often also extends to copyright, design registration, and in some cases patent protection. All the platforms seem to be increasing in sophistication. This if anything should encourage brand owners to have a suite of rights to permit flexibility in enforcement. The strongest claim might not be the fastest claim, and it's always great to have options.

Amazon Brand Registry

Amazon leads the way with Brand Registry. A lot of other retail platforms as well as e-commerce and social media platforms have followed suit with their own IP enforcement portals. Some are proactive, though you might have to rely upon reporting violations and making takedown requests for counterfeit products. Some brand owners report submitting mass takedown requests, which are actioned in less than 24 hours. Fast and effective, especially compared with the conventional legal route.

Meta's Intellectual Property and Reporting Center

Meta (Facebook and Instagram) have a great program, the Intellectual Property Reporting Center. The IPRC allows rights holders to submit reports relating to copyright and trade mark infringement across Meta platforms. Meta states that creators and rights holders can use the portal to report content that infringes their intellectual property rights.

Think outside the box! Is it a Shopify site?

You've located a website selling infringing product, but it's not on a platform. Before you call your trade marks professional, check if it's a Shopify site. Because Shopify provide for legal removals and intellectual property enforcement. You can get the entire site shut down if not banned from the platform if repeat offenders. So it pays to check.

What about China? 

China might be critical for you as a brand owner, and similar programs are available on Chinese platforms, such as Aliexpress and all the rest. This can make the acquisition of Chinese IP rights a critical plank in your IP strategy when enforcement can be done online rather than through local legal enforcement.