Counterfeiting is big business and can damage your brand, revenues, and ultimately your customers’ safety. When creating a branded product, it’s important to know as much as you can about intellectual property (IP) infringement issues so you can stay ahead of potential scammers.

The growth of e-commerce has unfortunately brought with it similar growth in trade in counterfeit goods, which now makes up over 2.5% of world trade according to the OECD. It can feel like a constant battle, as counterfeiters are constantly finding new ways to manufacture and sell their fakes.

The grim reality is that many will stop at nothing to produce copycat products, even if it means putting consumers’ safety at risk  – even children, with fake toys. Many fake products fail to comply with safety regulations and standards enforced upon legitimate businesses, undercutting them in price – to the consumer and inventors’ cost.

If you want to stay one step ahead of the counterfeiters, then you need to educate yourself. We have collated some useful resources on counterfeit prevention, but it also pays to keep your eyes on articles about fraud in the news to stay ahead of new scams, and any new legislation being proposed to prevent it.

Remember to register your brand – for free – with the EUIPO Enforcement Database, which helps to detect counterfeits quickly at the point of import.

The more knowledge you have, the more you will be able to protect your brand.

Here at SnapDragon we use clever AI technology to find and report fake listings of your products, and help you to use your patents, trademarks and IP rights to defend your brand from counterfeits on e-commerce platforms across the world.

If you want to protect your brand, sign up to a free trial of Swoop, our self service tool, or request a demo now.