Guide to Online Brand Protection
Brand protection is taking preventative measures against counterfeiters, copycats, and other bad actors 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.
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. Before we can dive deeper into that, it’s important to understand what intellectual property really is. Is it actually intellectual?
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.
Brand protection, however, isn’t as easy as simply knowing your rights, there are just so many different ways that your brand can come under attack.
Types of Brand Attacks
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 knock-offs that are often lower quality and don’t meet the criteria of what you would consider a “true” counterfeit being.
True counterfeits tend to be made by criminal organizations. These organizations 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 unauthorized 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 unauthorized 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. 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. Most attacks happen nowadays online. There are services that can help you put best practices in place to protect your brand. Learn how an online brand protection company can help you.