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A guide to Brand Protection

Brand protection is taking preventative measures against counterfeiters from violating your brand illegally by using your IP (intellectual property), your brand name, identity, and other trademarks, copyrights, patents, designs, and other types of IP. Whether you’re a business owner or you work for a large company, it’s important to understand exactly how you can protect your company’s brand either online or in the market place.

What is Brand Protection?

When you engage in brand protection, you are looking to prevent someone from violating your brand by using your IP and/or brand name. It’s important to understand what intellectual property really is.

Intellectual property is the legal framework that covers anything you produce that comes from your mind. This could be an invention, artistic work of any kind, or a product. The IP rights that guard your intellectual assets are the same as if any of your other property was at risk. Registered as a Copyright or Trademark.

Brand protection, however, isn’t as easy as simply knowing your rights, there are just so many ways that your brand can come under attack and be devalued.

Sadly, there are some brand owners who do not treat brand protection seriously.

Counterfeiting

Counterfeiting shouldn’t need too much of an introduction. It’s the manufacturing of distribution goods under your brand name or IP rights, without your permission. There are only subtle differences within the counterfeit trade that are important to note. There are many counterfeiters who produce knockoffs that are often lower quality and don’t meet the criteria of what you would consider a “true” counterfeit being. There are also very good quality counterfeits that even the brand owners have difficulty spotting.

True counterfeits tend to be made by criminal organisations likely to be based in China or Turkey. These organisations usually have access to the materials that make their imitations harder to differentiate from the real thing. They also typically have strong distribution networks.

Copyright Infringement

Referring to the unauthorised copying, distribution, and displaying of any work made by you and protected by copyright, that is copyright infringement. Copyright is a core type of IP covering original works that vary from literary to video and photographic art forms.

Trademark Infringement

Defined as the unauthorised use of your trademark on any goods or services. Trademarks are a badge of origin and can be used to differentiate your products and services from others and are correctly registered with the Intellectual Property Office. Typically takes the form of words, logos, patterns, and shapes that are connected to your brand.

Patent Theft

The act of making or selling your product, that is patented, without your permission. A patent is a right that can be granted to you by government authorities for new inventions

How to Protect Your Brand

There are so many other ways that a brand can be attacked. Many attacks happen nowadays online. There are services that can help you put best practices in place to protect your brand. 

Surelock

Surelock is an active member of the Anti-Counterfeiting Group and one of the most pro-active companies in the UK doing this type of work. This statement is justified by Surelock’s consistent performance over many years, due largely to the unique expertise it has developed in the investigation and protection of intellectual property rights, including the grey market, counterfeiting, parallel trading and trademark / copyright infringements.

Our team of experienced consultants, with knowledge of IPR law, is trained to examine our clients’ merchandise. We carry out covert surveillance of the marketplace and proactive investigations identifying those selling, importing and manufacturing our clients’ goods. We are not just a reactive organisation. We work collectively for several clients in order to keep costs to a minimum by jointly taking actions against the counterfeiters and their traders, aiming to put them out of business by seizing all their stock and assisting with prosecutions.

We have a dedicated team who deal with internet / social media who have taken down numerous bogus web sites and many thousands of online marketplace listings for trademark and copyright infringements.

We have conducted covert investigations throughout the world and provided the judicial authorities with our evidence thus making their task easier in taking legal action against these perpetrators. Our methods in evidence gathering have been highly commended by the courts.

In the United Kingdom, we have developed a close relationship with the City of London Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU), Trading Standards Service and Customs (UKBF). We also act as a point of contact for these authorities should they seize counterfeits of our clients’ merchandise, making authentication examinations and providing the necessary evidence.

Contact us if you need help with your brand protection or even just advice please make contact, we are sure we can help you – https://www.surelock.org/contact-us