Counterfeit Products and Marketplace Infringement: Protecting Your Brand Where Customers Shop
Counterfeits and unauthorised sellers cost more than lost sales - they bring complaints and reputational harm. How marketplace infringement shows up, what to record, and why monitoring has to scale.
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Key takeaways
- Counterfeits appear on marketplaces, social-commerce platforms, independent websites, and other digital channels.
- Marketplace infringement includes unauthorised sellers, copied images, and listings that imply a genuine origin.
- Record listing URL, seller identity, photos, pricing, and claims before the listing changes.
- At hundreds or thousands of listings, continuous monitoring is more efficient than manual searches.
“Our products are being copied and counterfeit products are being sold using our brand.”
For consumer businesses, counterfeit products can appear on marketplaces, social-commerce platforms, independent websites and other digital channels. The damage may extend beyond lost sales to customer complaints and reputational harm.
What marketplace infringement includes
Marketplace infringement may involve counterfeit products, unauthorised sellers, copied product images, misuse of trademarks or listings designed to make customers believe that a product originates from the genuine brand.
Watch for new sellers, not just today's listing
Brands need to know not only whether a counterfeit listing exists today, but whether new sellers and listings are appearing across different marketplaces.
What to record
Record the listing URL, seller identity, product photographs, pricing, customer-facing claims, trademark use and other relevant information. Where possible, preserve evidence before the listing is altered or removed.
Response options
Depending on the circumstances, the response may involve marketplace reporting mechanisms, intellectual-property complaints, takedown requests, cease-and-desist notices or court proceedings.
Monitoring at marketplace scale
Manual searches and repeated law-firm instructions can become commercially inefficient for brands with hundreds or thousands of listings. Continuous marketplace monitoring can identify potential infringements at scale, allowing legal resources to be directed towards matters that genuinely require legal intervention.
DiReFTY provides counterfeit monitoring, marketplace infringement detection, evidence preservation and enforcement support, backed by practical understanding of IP enforcement and litigation.
Frequently asked questions
What evidence should I keep for a counterfeit listing?
The listing URL, seller identity, product photographs, pricing, customer-facing claims, and how the trademark is used - preserved before the listing is altered or removed.
How are counterfeit listings removed?
Depending on the circumstances, through marketplace reporting mechanisms, intellectual-property complaints, takedown requests, cease-and-desist notices, or court proceedings.
Know your digital reputation exposure
Start with a free assessment of the threats targeting your brand across every channel.
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