BRAND PROTECTION
Shine a light on the Internet’s dark places
As you’re well aware, the Internet is now the chief driver of commerce worldwide, and will remain so for the foreseeable future. It is also a minefield of false-association websites, pay- per-click sites, counterfeit goods storefronts, fraudulent auctions, and email and client-data scams. Without adequate measures in place to detect these threats, your trademarks and brands are vulnerable to dilution, imitation, disparagement, and lost traffic.
Many organisations lack the time and
specialised tools required to monitor the web adequately for threats, a need that has given rise to a number of monitoring applications on the market today. Still, it’s important to choose the right one: the best monitoring platforms crawl billions of web pages, and if that information is not boiled down to an actionable form, you’ll be greeted each day by a monumental data dump. You should partner with a service provider who not only detects threats against your brands but prioritises them according to impact.
Scrutinise social media
Just as websites have been indispensable to most companies’ sales and distribution channels for years, the recent rise of social media has proved a marketing boon for many organisations, enhancing their visibility and their ability to influence consumers. At the same time, it has increased the available terrain for trademark infringement and disparagement. Social media sites give legitimate consumers a place to broadcast their preferences, but they appropriated by
also rogue operators or
can be even
competitors bent on trashing your reputation. Incidences of brand abuse, however small, can have a direct impact on your sales and brand perception.
Because social media content updates happen quickly and in a globally diffuse manner, real-time social media monitoring is a must for any corporation that ventures on to the social web. By subscribing to one of the top services available today, companies can receive
focused, social media mentions of
With the top services, results are accompanied by a ‘sentiment analysis’—commentary on whether a mention is positive or negative. This gives businesses insight into their current marketing and customer relationship management strategies. If reports are negative (and the views are coming from a legitimate source), the company knows it needs to improve performance.
Brand holders should also reserve their trademarks, in the form of branded usernames or ‘vanity URLs’, on social media sites well in advance of any marketing efforts. Even if they have no immediate plans to launch their brands on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, LinkedIn, etc, they should reserve their names in case their plans change, and to prevent exploitation by third parties.
Shrink your legal spend
In the event that their monitoring programmes do detect infringement, companies can assert their IP rights in a variety of ways, ranging from cease and desist letters to extra-judicial action and finally, legal action. Historically, most infringement claims have been settled in court, an expensive and time-consuming process. Fortunately, companies now have an expanded palette of enforcement options at their disposal.
For example, new enforcement tools on the market today make it easy to create, send, and track cease and desist letters to any number of parties. For domain names, the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution (UDRP) process offers a proven extrajudicial means of recovering trademarked URLs that have fallen into others’ hands. The more capable brand protection service providers should offer support services for both of these recovery options at a price much lower than you would pay an attorney.
detailed reporting on all their brands and
trademarks. These services identify, track and consolidate mentions of relevant brands on established and emerging social media sites— from posts, blogs, and tweets to articles and other types of social media mentions—with data refreshed according to need.
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It bears mentioning that enforcement actions of any kind tend to be much more expensive than defensive actions. Always be sure to register domain names and usernames for new brands before you apply for trademarks or begin operating under the new names. Fail to do this, and third parties will pounce on them as soon as your trademark applications enter the public domain, leading to expensive recovery costs down the road.
Find a vendor you can trust
Putting all these tools to work for you is the job of a trusted service provider. It’s important to work with a vendor who offers your company a single point of contact, identifies with your
Trademarks Brands and the Internet Volume 1, Issue 3
brand, understands your goals, and can tailor a strategy specific to your needs. Your legal, IT, and marketing teams will also appreciate the simplicity of working with just one vendor.
Cost is always a concern when outsourcing a service, especially in today’s softer economy. However, cost alone shouldn’t blind companies to the intrinsic value of the services they are getting. Other factors to consider include the type and breadth of the services offered, how well they are integrated, the vendor’s flexibility, the degree of customisation possible, and the level of customer service provided.
Customer service is an especially important differentiator.
Your brand protection
partner should provide you with a dedicated account manager, a support team, and 24/7 availability. They should be willing to conduct market research on your behalf, alert you to new challenges, and provide you with regular updates on ways to strengthen your current trademark protection programme.
It’s your right as a brand holder to insist that your service provider views you as a true partner and shares your day-to-day concerns. Only then will your trademarks receive the protection they deserve. And only then can you embrace the new opportunities that come your way.
Te CSC team can be contacted at:
cipservices@cscinfo.com
Mark Calandra is vice president of sales and product development for the Corporate Identity Protection Division of Corporation Service Company (CSC). His oversight helps CSC’s corporate clients manage their IP more efficiently and meet the challenges of a changing Internet.
www.worldipreview.com
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