Key Tips for Protecting Your Business from Online Counterfeiting

A resident of the state of Texas, Sheldon Pontaoe attended New York Law School to obtain his juris doctor degree and has served as a corporate lawyer for almost 20 years. Sheldon Pontaoe received the Best Lawyers Under 40 award from the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association and is a legal expert in the areas of trademarks, product licensing, and policies and legislation related to anti-counterfeiting.

A global problem involving the illegal replication of products, online counterfeiting activities are on the rise. Counterfeiting poses safety risks for consumers and threatens businesses in multiple ways, including leading to a loss of revenue and reputation damage. Three important tips for protecting your business against online counterfeiting are presented here.

Ensure your intellectual property is protected.
Regardless of the size of your business, protect your intellectual property on and offline by having your product names and logos registered as trademarks in any of the countries you plan on marketing them. You may also want to consider obtaining design and utility patents to protect your products, if possible.

Leverage technology.
Implement automated monitoring technology to scan online marketing sites and social media platforms for counterfeiting activities. Using automated technology instead of manual efforts increases the speed of detection and removal of online counterfeit content.

Teach your customers.
Many customers purchase counterfeit products unknowingly and are unaware of the damaging consequences of counterfeiting for them and the businesses selling legitimate products. Educating customers on how to identify counterfeit products and the risks associated with purchasing them may help to reduce counterfeiting activity.