During the festive season, along with the endless offers and discounts, a threat lurks in the shadows in the form of counterfeit products and fake websites. Impersonating and infringing assets of popular brands, fraudsters dupe gullible customers into buying inferior or counterfeit goods, which not only brings about financial losses to the brand. It also, to a certain level, impacts the reputation it has built for so long.
Adding to the challenge is the ease with which fake web sites that are replicas of authentic e-commerce stores trick buyers and create a sense of mistrust in the online shopping platform. This emerging challenge of brand infringement must be addressed to protect not just brands but also consumers.
What is Brand Infringement?
Brand infringement occurs when unauthorized people use the identity of any brand, including logos, designs, or trademarks, without permission. The wrongful use of brand’s assets leads to confusion among consumers, loss to the original brand, and reduced of value of the brand. Brand infringement is not just selling pirated goods, but it also involves the exploitation of websites or misrepresentation or misuse of a brand’s intellectual property.
Type of infringement techniques used on major ecommerce marketplaces:
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Trademark Infringement
A third party uses the logo, name, or slogan of a brand without any kind of authorization. It not only confuses the customer but also dilutes the reputation of the brand.
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Copyright Infringement
Repeated copyright infringement here manifests in the form of reproduction, distribution, or public display of a copyrighted material, say, brand image, product description, or even marketing copy. Misuse of such a material harms a brand’s uniqueness, hence reducing its control over how its content is used.
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Domain Squatting
Also popularly known as Cybersquatting, is about registration of familiar brand domain names in order to mislead customers. Fraudsters might use such domains for fake stores or for the purpose of damaging the reputation of a brand.
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Typo-Squatting
In this case, the scammers create sites using misspelled versions of the famous brand’s domain names. This could be ‘ammazon.com’ while the original domain is ‘amazon.com’. The user, not knowing how to differentiate between the real or fake one, may visit malicious sites with counterfeit products or phishing traps, and share their personal or financial information, leading to a financial loss and believing that they have been deceived by the brand. Therefore, further damaging the reputation of the brand.
In the face of increasing competition in the e-commerce sphere, brands must actively monitor and protect intellectual property in the digital space if they want to maintain their reputation and continue gaining customer trust.
Disclaimer: The example is used for reference purpose only.
Two Major types of Brand Infringement
Fake Websites
Fake websites are designed to deceive users into believing they are legitimate online stores or service providers. Often mimicking the look, feel and branding of well-known companies, these websites lure unsuspecting visitors into providing personal information, making purchases or sharing financial details.
The rise of e-commerce has made it easier for cybercriminals to create convincing fake websites leading to potential identity theft, credit fraud and data breaches. Many users fall victim to these scams due to the professional appearance of the sites complete with similar logos, domains, and content as the original brands.
How to spot a fake website
- The website looks the same but has the wrong / similar domain name.
- They provide unbelievable offers or discounts to the users like ‘up to 95% discount’, etc.
- The website doesn’t work as expected, like some of the buttons don’t work, etc.
- Download Android / IOS Apps from trusted sources only. Avoid shopping through suspicious links.
Counterfeits on Online Marketplaces
Counterfeit products pose a significant threat to brands. They damage brand reputation, erode consumer trust, and can lead to financial losses. In the case of counterfeit smartphones, the genuine brand’s image is tarnished as consumers associate it with substandard products. Moreover, counterfeit goods often infringe on intellectual property rights, impacting the brand’s innovation and market position.
As per reports posted by some financial institutions, Counterfeit products cost the global economy an estimated $500 billion per year. The trade in counterfeit goods is a significant economic loss, but the consequences go beyond financial implications.
How to identify counterfeits
- They offer too-good-to be-true deals
- There can be shady or poorly written reviews.
- There can be fake logos and trademarks on the product
- They provide unclear product description.
How to safeguard your brand from counterfeit and fake websites
By using these solutions proactively, protecting their brands, businesses not only preserve their reputation and revenue but also combat the broader issue of organized crime and fraud, which often underpins these illegal activities.
Brand Infringement Scanning & Takedowns
mFilterIt starts with identification process as part of 3 pillar approach followed by classification of infringement and swift action. Client provides official logos, whitelist of official URLs, Social Media handles, YouTube Channels, IM handles etc.
mFilterIt scans various platforms with advanced AI, ML, and Open-source intelligence (OSINT) powered tech covering websites (via Search engines), social media platforms, YouTube, IM Apps. We automate the process with swift identification and share potential brand infringement instances for a swift takedown with the platforms. It not only threatens brand reputation for brands but also for online marketplaces.
Counterfeit Products Scan
mFilterIt harvests data from the eCommerce platforms. Based on the attributes collected an analysis is undertaken. The analysis is presented as the product being good, fake and brand breaches. Key attributes are analyses such as product URLs name in title, price violations, relevant keywords from reviews, unrecognized sellers, average poor rating, standard image, and PDP content.
Conclusion
As e-commerce continues to grow, so do the risks of brand infringement in the form of fake websites and counterfeit products. These infringement activities not only damage a brand’s reputation but also undermine consumer trust and lead to financial losses. To protect their intellectual property, and ensure their brand’s integrity, businesses must be proactive in monitoring digital platforms for brand violations. Utilizing advanced tools like Brand Protection solution (Sentinel+) by mFilterIt, companies can scan and detect counterfeit product swiftly and identify, classify and take down infringed content, ensuring their brand’s reputation is trusted and protected in the online marketplace.
