Category: Commercial Brand Protection

Can a Company Be Truly Sustainable Without Considering How to Prevent Counterfeiting?

     |     

Author: OuterBox

By Mike Consterdine, Brand Account Development Manager

Globally, many companies have committed to the fight against plastic pollution, with manufacturers changing components and materials to produce more recyclable packaging. The time and investment put into this sustainability goal is also a balancing act with businesses becoming carbon neutral.  

However, a sometimes forgotten consideration is that counterfeit products entering the supply chain may lack sustainable materials and are often unsafe and non-compliant. In this light, an essential component of sustainability efforts is to prevent counterfeiting.

The main motivation for those conducting illicit trade is financial gain. Therefore, there is an overwhelming argument that sustainability is not considered in the manufacturing, distribution and sale of counterfeit products. Counterfeiters manufacture these goods in factories that are often unregulated and include cheaply sourced and substandard materials that are not only harmful to workers but also contribute to the pollution of the environment. 

So the question is, can companies truly achieve sustainability while at the same time not considering or having a plan to remediate counterfeit goods? We’ll see that sustainability and counterfeiting prevention go hand-in-hand.

The Impact of Counterfeiting

While it’s well-known that counterfeiting and intellectual property infringement supports organized crime, there are also other societal impacts to consider:

  • Illicit trade rings traffic people across borders for exploitative labor, often in abhorrent conditions with little or no compensation. 
  • Across multiple sectors, including apparel, consumer goods, cosmetics, electronics and pharmaceuticals, counterfeit products have been proven to contain hazardous and toxic elements. When those products come into contact with a person or are consumed, they can be harmful or even fatal.
  • Counterfeit or non-compliant products may find their way into legitimate manufacturing and distribution channels, compromising supply chain integrity. This results in companies being unable to prove that the product or process adheres to company sustainability statements and practices.
  • When counterfeit products are seized, there is an opportunity to reuse or recycle them. However, de-labeling a branded item is not always possible as this process can also be costly, and some product materials are unsafe to reuse. In these circumstances, the products will be destroyed by court order, impacting the environment with further waste and pollution.

The ability to prevent counterfeiting substantially reduces all these risks.

How to Prevent Counterfeiting

There are many ways companies can prevent counterfeiting. First, they should conduct a comprehensive review of intellectual property rights and supply chain channels. This process will provide insight into the strengths and weaknesses of company processes and their IP portfolio. The results allow efficient and effective decision-making by legal, regulatory and enforcement teams and support sales, marketing and operational divisions.

The next essential step, even if the company has an in-house brand protection specialist, is collaborating with key partners. These partners can include regional enforcement teams, online brand protection service providers and those who are experts in securing products through authentication and traceability solutions.

Brand Protection Services to Prevent Counterfeiting

An online brand protection company can assess the market while providing an overall view of the extent of the IP infringement problem, whether that be in counterfeit, design or copyrights. Engaging a third-party provider for brand protection services assists in time management. They also can conduct online takedowns and provide actionable intelligence for prioritizing offline targets.

By applying a unique and secure identifier to a product or packaging, a product can be authenticated or tracked through its lifecycle, with all data on the product stored in a cloud-based platform for various business functions. Consumers or field investigators also can immediately authenticate a product by scanning the identifier via an app, a forensic reader or a mobile/cellular device. 

By implementing these strategies, a company can mitigate its risk of counterfeiting, diversion and non-compliant products entering the legitimate supply chain. 

Return on Investment

Brand protection can be seen as a cost center. But a return on investment can be determined by increased consumer confidence through fewer customer returns, higher sales driven by the removal of infringing online content and offline target prioritization. Brand protection can also help avoid costly product recalls, which will likely increase emissions, representing another link between preventing counterfeits and sustainability. 

Implementing secure brand protection technologies can also lead to more efficient processes and less waste, supporting company sustainability initiatives.

Combining Sustainability and Counterfeiting Prevention

While counterfeiting can be deemed a byproduct of a successful business, it can irreparably damage a brand’s reputation with customers and the general public. It also invites questions regarding what the intellectual property rights holder is doing to prevent unregulated, often harmful, illegal practices.

Corporate social responsibility is often seen as a buzzword. But, when it comes to consumer trust and sustainability statements, it is imperative to consider all factors. Reviewing component sourcing, manufacturing processes, policies and regulations is only the start to increasing sustainability. 

Brand protection, online and offline, is more than “stopping the fakes.”  It’s also about protecting reputation, human life and the environment. 

Ready to Learn More?

SCHEDULE A CONSULTATION

Trust Your Brand Protection to Authentix

As the authority in authentication solutions, Authentix brings enhanced visibility and traceability to today’s complex global supply chains. For over 25 years, Authentix has provided our clients with physical and software-enabled solutions to detect, mitigate and prevent counterfeiting and other illicit trading activity for currency, excise taxable goods, and branded consumer products. Brand protection is an integral component of our services.

Through our proven client partnership model and sector expertise, we offer custom solution design, rapid implementation, consumer engagement and complete program management to ensure product safety, protect revenue and maintain consumer trust and loyalty for the best global brands on the market. Contact us now to see what we can do for your brand.

Mike Consterdine, Account Development Manager for Brand, Authentix
Mike Consterdine has been involved in the Brand Protection industry for nearly 15 years, helping brands secure their products through protection and enforcement of their IP portfolio. Having worked as an external investigator for a number of global luxury and apparel brands, Mike also developed and managed the international enforcement program for a leading consumer electrical appliance manufacturer.

Using his wealth of knowledge in the field he is able to consult brand owners on best practices in anti-counterfeiting and anti-diversion programs. Representing Authentix, Mike will be able to outline how secure product marking enables authentication and traceability, whilst online to offline brand protection enables business growth.

Mike explains that Brand Protection is “a passion as well as a profession, protecting people is the reason. Whether you have counterfeiting, diversion or fraud issues, it’s key to be proactive and collaborate with your network to be successful in any Brand Protection program.”

To learn more about our brand protection solutions and how we can help you, please email Mike at Mike.consterdine@authentix.com.

Are Companies Held Liable For Fake Products?

     |     

Author: OuterBox

By the Authentix Brand Protection team

Brand protection often isn’t the first thing on a company’s mind as they launch a new product. When a company sets out to design a product, they want it to be a hit. They strive to make it useful and helpful to people, and they want their customers to trust and love the new product. Many brand owners refer to their products as their “baby” due to the long and challenging process to get it just right, in addition to the thought and testing that goes into the product research and development process.

One of the most powerful practices a company should apply to their products is often overlooked and that is brand protection, which can protect a company from unforeseen liability costs and customer mistrust in emerging or gray markets. Estimates vary, but the total amount of counterfeit goods impacting the job market is astonishing — it’s responsible for the loss of 2.5 million jobs globally.

When Brand Reputation is on the Line

An expression often used in sales states, “You are only as good as your last deal.” Similarly, brand reputation plays a significant role in the sales of most products. More than ever, customers are informed and do their research, reviewing competitors and finding the best deal according to various factors such as quality, cost, and reputation. A positive brand reputation can take years to build and only moments to collapse. (For example, in 2019, Nike pulled its products from the Amazon marketplace in part to try to lessen the damaging effects that counterfeit goods were then having on its brand). A brand’s positive reputation can be ruined due to a counterfeit product damaging someone’s skin, hair, body, or health.Online Brand Protection Strategies

Any product that is a premium brand and popular (e.g., car parts, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, clothing, or even bed sheets) will be counterfeited at some point and can severely damage the reputation of the brand name. It can take many years and a significant amount of money in marketing and legal fees to rebuild public trust. The risk of this predicament can be materially reduced or even avoided with an investment in a brand protection program right from the start.

Forgoing Brand Protection Is Not an Option

When companies decide to forgo a brand protection program for the release of a premium product, several adverse outcomes can occur. The product may end up in non-targeted marketplaces where consumers find counterfeited or unauthorized and often heavily discounted versions. In many cases, this could also happen with brand owners’ third-party manufacturers producing unauthorized products for their own benefit.

In these cases, brand owners may also be held liable for those counterfeit products because there is little way to prove the provenance or authenticity of the fakes vs. the legitimately produced goods. For example, if a consumer in the marketplace gets hurt by an unauthorized or fake product, the brand owner is often exposed to liability. The legal fees can pile up quickly with no end in sight, all while product sales drop due to the lack of consumer trust.

In addition to counterfeited products, there is the gray market where consumers may find a company’s genuine products sold by unauthorized distributors at deeply discounted pricing, such as being sold out of the “back of the truck” or through other nonstandard channels. These may include expired or out-of-season products where the selling price is much less than the Minimum Advertised Price (MAP).

Supply Chain Physical Visibility & Traceability Simplified

Navigating a solid brand protection program does not have to be overly complex or challenging to implement. For example, putting a digital identifier or UIM on a product is much like putting a license plate on a car. That plate’s unique letter and number combinations should only be found on the exact vehicle with matching registration.

The same goes for placing a security taggant and/or a secure digital code on a product — it is only made for that specific product. The quantity and size of the product’s merchandising and packaging will determine the best security feature(s) needed to later identify the authenticity and unique attributes belonging to the product.Brand Protection Strategies

A covert or visible encrypted QR code with a unique, serialized item level ID can provide track-and-trace insight for a brand owner. This can provide much-needed supply chain visibility and uncover gray market diversion. If there is a question of the authenticity of a product, a consumer or inspector can check for various covert and/or overt security features (depending on the brand protection program the brand has in place).

For example, when a company’s product is entering the country of destination, the border patrol can easily detect the proper security taggants and confirm the validity of the product, allowing it to reach the distribution and retail channel much faster without delays in customs.

Online Brand Protection for Added Peace of Mind

Online brand protection is another factor to consider. If a product is sold in an online marketplace, there are tools today that can make the authentication process even easier. Many providers now have image searching and can digitally compare images for authorized licensed goods offered on non-authorized sites. Also, as part of online brand enforcement efforts, inspectors can view the product image for special overt security features to help identify these suspect products.

Today’s modern online brand protection advancements allow for identifying fake products and providing ancillary services such as cease-and-desist letters and a formal process to request site takedowns from legitimate or dark web marketplaces. Online brand protection services can perform sample buys and help find, chase, catch, and investigate infringing operators in multiple marketplaces, shutting them down and further protecting your trademark.

Consumer Engagement & Authentication Significant to Growth

For traditional core brand protection programs, the growing trend of merging consumer engagement with digital product authentication in a single platform can be insightful for a growth-minded strategy. There are many technology options for both brand owners and authentication providers in developing these hybrid and dual-purpose programs. Such services allow consumer interaction for marketing purposes while forming large data sets to detect trends as the product’s journey is tracked.

As consumers become more vigilant and seek genuine products when shopping for premium brands, including a consumer engagement feature also provides an effective means of protecting products. Moreover, it enables direct engagement with loyal consumers to help increase both customer interaction and continued brand loyalty.

The Value of Complete Brand Protection

The return on investment of implementing a brand protection program from the beginning of a product’s introduction to the market is a valuable and worthwhile investment for several reasons. It can help detect fake or unauthorized products quickly, mitigate potential liability costs that may result, and help support a brand owner’s preferred market pricing by avoiding unauthorized gray market activity. Being able to police all third-party manufacturers can also be a crucial result of a well-implemented brand protection program.

Ready to Learn More?

SCHEDULE A CONSULTATION

About Authentix

As the authority in authentication solutions, Authentix brings enhanced visibility and traceability to today’s complex global supply chains. For over 25 years, Authentix has provided clients with physical and software-enabled solutions to detect, mitigate, and prevent counterfeiting and other illicit trading activity for currency, excise taxable goods, and branded consumer products. Through a proven partnership model and sector expertise, clients experience custom solution design, rapid implementation, consumer engagement, and complete program management to ensure product safety, revenue protection, and consumer trust for the best-known global brands on the market. Headquartered in Addison, Texas USA, Authentix, Inc. has offices in the North America, Europe, Middle East, Asia, and Africa serving clients worldwide.  For more information, visit https://www.authentix.com.

Footnotes

1 BASCAP, Estimating the global economic and social impacts of counterfeiting and piracy, Frontier Economics, 2011

2 Elizabeth Segran, Nike tried playing nice with Amazon. Here’s why it didn’t work, Fast Company, 2019

 

The Sum of Its Parts: Well-Curated Authentication Technologies in the Fight against Illicit Trade

     |     

Author: Kathryn Olivier

By the Authentix Brand Protection Team

Whether you’re a brand owner protecting a commercial product or a government authority issuing critical, high-security documents, you’re continually faced with the ongoing challenges of combating illicit trade and counterfeiters.

To counter these constant attacks on legitimate industry players, high security authentication solutions are needed to safeguard the integrity of global commerce and can include both physical and digital security solutions. Security can be added to documents, products, and product packaging or labels. In addition to adding these security features, the more advanced and effective authentication programs should also include track and trace capabilities that allow the tracking of protected products throughout the supply chain.

With a comprehensive and well-curated authentication program, brand owners and governments can take a more proactive approach to protecting consumers from potential health and safety issues and themselves from the financial impacts of counterfeiting and diversion.

Product Marking: The Foundation

Physical marking solutions can range from simple yet effective to highly sophisticated and extremely secure. A typical marking ‘toolkit’ consists of four basic elements, each of which performs a different function, ranging from detection, prevention, deterrence and engagement.

  • Tamper Evident – cannot be opened and reapplied without visible damage, therefore deterring and preventing nefarious actors from interfering with the product
  • Overt – visible to the eye and hard to copy, which deters from and ultimately prevents attempts to mimic the feature due to the high barrier to entry both from a cost and from a technical point of view
  • Semi-overt – visible to the eye upon performing a simple action, which means the brand owner can choose when to change a feature from covert to overt by timing the invitation to the public to engage in the authentication of the product
  • Covert/forensic – invisible to the eye, detectable using a hand-held device (covert) or laboratory equipment (forensic); being invisible, covert and forensic features do not prevent counterfeiting, but they facilitate unequivocal and quick in-field verification of authenticity and detection of counterfeits.

A combination of these features presents the most water-tight strategy against a number of illicit trade activities including counterfeiting, diversion, and infringement. To ensure successful implementation with minimal impact to current processes already in place, the most effective approach is to integrate the application of security features into existing processes within your manufacturing and vendor base, whether it is printing, labels, tamper evident seals or specialized overt and covert inks, using existing materials and packaging designs.

Going Digital: Connecting your Asset to the Cloud

Product marking is the foundation that supports digital security technologies, given that the physical form of digital identifiers can be validated when combined with robust printed security features.

Products become digital touchpoints by adding unique, item-level digital identifiers to the product or its packaging. Unique identifiers can be delivered in various formats such as overt or covert Datamatrix codes, QR codes, human readable alphanumeric codes, or embedded NFC chips, added to any part of the product or packaging or other carrier vehicle. These digital identifiers can also be embedded into an existing code format or added as a covert ‘twin’ of a visible code in cases where codes are at risk of being removed in an unauthorized attempt to destroy the traceability of the product.

In general, there are three main users of this technology:

  • Supply Chain Participants – manufactures, distributors, 3rd party logistics
  • Inspectors – a brand’s internal team, local law offices, law enforcement and customs agents
  • Consumers/e\End-Users – for authentication verification and engagement

What’s Next: Using your Connected Asset to your Advantage

Connected products are typically used in three different ways and for different objectives. These include journey tracking, authentication and consumer engagement as shown in this graphic.

 

Driven by a rules engine that is calibrated by the brand owner or government, each of these paths direct critical data back to them in the form of actionable insights and analytics that are leveraged for strategic decisions across multiple agency focus areas or corporate functions, such as legal, operations, supply chain, marketing and others.

Examples of data that can be gleaned include locations of suspicious activity, excessive scan volume, geo- fence violations, multiple scans/single ID alerts, top scanned codes, and more.

The Role of Data: Collect, Analyze, Act, Share

There are many areas in which data can prove exceptionally meaningful. These include:

  • Secure mark: validates if the product is genuine or fake
  • Distribution: routes, port of entry, freight forwarders, dates, etc.
  • Illicit activity: captures and ear-marks products/codes that are suspected as counterfeit or diverted
  • Source: increasingly important raw materials and components
  • Product: records product make or model, part number, batch and quality control data
  • Production: captures manufacturer, date and time of production
  • Location: identifies where was the product made, shipped, sold, or scanned
  • Consumer: opt-in driven consumer intelligence, contact data, location of scan, device, engagement

This data can easily be shared across internal teams, with law enforcement and customs, and used for benchmarking and best practices in discussion with other brands.

Examples of client dashboard in the Authentix DigiTrax™ platform

 

In summary, both physical and digital technologies play an important role in the fight against illicit trade. Creating digitally connected products turns them into valuable tools for inspection, reporting and communication. When leveraged to its full functionality, the combination of physical and digital technology is a game-changer for our industry.

To learn more about Authentix brand protection solutions, visit authentix.com.

Inspector-Led Authentication – Whitepaper Download

     |     

Author: Kathryn Olivier

Protecting your brand from counterfeiters should be easy, right? One would think but the Brand Protection conversation can be a challenging one within a product organization. You need an effective anti-counterfeit solution that incorporates both emerging technology and data analytics to start the conversation.

In this whitepaper you will learn what is needed to develop an anti-counterfeit plan:

      • Evolving role of the consumer in authentication
      • Internet of things, data aggregation and actionable insights
      • Improvements in inspector-led tools
      • Return-on-investment paradox



Using Data Collected in Brand Protection Programs

     |     

Author: Kathryn Olivier

Protecting consumers and safeguarding your company’s brand identity and reputation is becoming increasingly challenging in today’s environment with the continued growth of counterfeit and diverted products entering the market. At the same time, consumers are taking a more proactive role in choosing to buy brands they know and trust, while expecting increased transparency in brand promise.

As supply chains become increasingly complex, brand owners are facing intense pressure to respond to traceability and transparency challenges by utilizing digital systems for collecting valuable data and analyzing and acting upon the visible trends to help consumers authenticate products at points of sale, or alternatively connect and engage with the brand owner directly via the web or app. A digital solution helps with monitoring product movement in the supply chain, as well as direct consumer feedback, to confirm legitimate or potential suspect product in the marketplace.

67% of consumers say brand trust has a great deal of influence over their buying decisions.

In todays connected marketplace, most companies already collect and use various forms of data analytics to drive ongoing business decisions and strategic initiatives. In fact, business action and decision making has become reliant on the use of data analytics to manage many day-to-day operations. Despite this growing reliance on data, most organizations have yet to apply the practice successfully when it comes to brand security. This can partly be attributed to the lack of reliable data available since the early adoption of digital track and trace capabilities for risk-based products is only beginning. The key to effectively using data in brand protection programs is to understand what data is available now, what data is needed that is not available, how to efficiently collect and analyze the data and lastly, what action can be taken based on this analysis to effectively reduce counterfeiting and diversion while simultaneously engaging directly with the consumer.

Data Identification

An enormous amount of meaningful data can be gleaned in digital tracking for brand protection programs including information about a product’s provenance, its journey through the supply chain, the location/date/time of associated transactions including consumer scan events, validation of authentication or suspected illicit activity, and even direct consumer marketing and engagement.

However, how to apply the data once collected can be different for each company. At Authentix, we collect supply chain and consumer interaction data from multiple sources and aggregate it into our secure cloud-based platform on behalf of our brand owner clients. From there we are able to configure rules and analyze data trends to provide our clients with complete visibility into the suspect events or grouped metadata revealing weak links or threats in supply chain operations that often point to product compromise.

Data Collection

The following are key areas for collecting data using digital track and trace technology.

  • Data Carrier Technology – includes multiple formats of barcodes, NFC and RFID technologies for supply chain tracking, purchase and post purchase consumer engagement, inventory movement, and theft prevention. These technologies vary greatly in terms of volume capacity, costs, application requirements and security levels, so it is important to evaluate the best types of code formats and integration to existing manufacturing and packaging processes that best meet the minimum needs that would produce a valuable return.
  • Track & Trace – can be accomplished during sourcing, manufacturing, distribution, and pre- and post-sale stages. During the printing, manufacturing or packaging process for example, the scope of implementation choices widen and we can provide multiple routes to enable tracking of product origin information, manufacturing location(s), production lines designation and more. Additionally, as the product nears closer to the point of sale, we’ll begin seeing authentication activity and the collection of meaningful data such as distributor and consumer interaction and engagement, and sustainability and circularity.
  • Authentication – in most digital track and trace systems, analysis of authenticity is often achieved via a smartphone. This can be by company inspectors using a proprietary mobile application all the way to the consumer who can interact with the product without having to download a mobile app. Using the Authentix DigiTrax™ track and trace solution as an example of direct consumer engagement, the smartphone user simply scans a proprietary and encrypted QR code which directs them to a custom URL experience that can include, among other things, the unique information associated with the individual product scanned. These consumer product scan events including geo location, date, time, product and product provenance information are submitted to the secure cloud-based DigiTrax platform where the information can be used to understand purchasing trends, market directly to the user, or allow the user to authenticate the product using proprietary codes or PINs. If designed for the purpose, the results of the authentication can be sent back to the user in real time. This technology also enables inspectors in the field and other key stakeholders to identify the authenticity of a product instantly using a more sophisticated mobile application. In addition, consumers may also use the DigiTrax platform to verify authenticity of other products or for the purpose of continuing engagement with brand owner purely for marketing purposes.
  • Online Surveillance and Enforcement – are methods, systems, and services used to identify, investigate and takedown unauthorized e-commerce websites that deal in illicit trade of counterfeit, diverted, or stolen products. This is accomplished through automated online tools and services such as marketplace monitoring, WeChat micro tasking, and machine learning which can identify risk levels, hot zones and image matching to police and eliminate unauthorized sales of product and illegal use of trademarks on the internet.
Putting Data to Use

Reliable and timely data feedback enables brand owners to quickly answer complex supply chain events, pinpoint trouble spots, and take corrective and even preventative action to reduce the instances and threats of unauthorized product entering the marketplace. Data can be used to assess multiple business-centric operations to increase sales and market share, acquire and build trust with new customers, and reinforce brand assurance, to name a few. In addition, as consumers become more reliant on smartphones for collecting and communicating information, brand owners can capture consumer data to tailor experiences and increase engagement and loyalty.

Using Data to Drive Success

Authentix customers are using valuable brand protection data and analytics in multiple ways with great success. In one customer success story, an international wine exporter faced counterfeiting and diversion issues in China, resulting in loss of consumer trust and risk to its strong market share and long term brand loyalty it had spent years building. Authentix helped the client implement a multi-layered digital authentication solution with covert and overt on-product features that flags, collects and analyzes all inspector and consumer scanning activity including the capability of retail product authentication by the consumer. The result? Over 150 counterfeit retail locations were identified and remediated. Also, through direct consumer engagement, loyal brand purchasers became more confident in product authenticity and the client was able to maintain premium pricing for their superior and quality products.

In another example, an international brand customer incurred online marketplace counterfeiting in Asia, putting consumer health, safety and loyalty at risk as well as decreasing revenues. Authentix helped the client implement a multi-phased online brand protection monitoring solution and services to identify and investigate the online sale of spurious product and locate complicit bottling and closure manufacturers involved in the illicit trading. Website takedowns were initiated, resulting a 90% reduction in fake products in Indonesia, 1,500 online listing takedowns in Malaysia, and 13 raids and enforcement actions conducted in China.

Start Big or Small. Just Start.

It’s important to point out that you do not have to implement a full scale approach to digital authentication initially and it’s easy to begin collecting and leveraging data – even if it’s just one product or product line for a particular geography. Alternatively, digital automation for brand protection programs can be implemented in a sweeping fashion as an end-to-end solution from the start with a full technology suite. Most clients choose to implement in logical steps based on risk assessment, ease of implementation, and to the most critical geographic areas. The key is to get a secure digital mark on your product and start the data collection process. Ultimately, it is how much data, the association of the data elements for analysis, and the conclusions and action you take that determines how much your brand protection program can be enhanced by bringing in digital track and trace automation. The key is to start, analyze, adjust, expand and continue until the data flow and insights provided are resulting in the development and refinement of actions and policies to take command of the risks faced each day.

Learn more about Authentix brand protection solutions, HERE.

Authentix Expands into Online Brand Protection Services

     |     

Author: Kathryn Olivier

From Identification, Surveillance, Investigations, and Website Takedowns: Authentix now Provides Full Service Online Brand Surveillance and Enforcement

To expand its capabilities in digital brand protection for brand owners, Authentix has recently acquired Strategic IP Information Pte Ltd (SIPI), a leading online brand and content rights protection service.

For over ten years, SIPI has offered state-of-the-art services for brands to track unauthorized channels for counterfeit products through its proprietary online tools and array of customized services including physical enforcement, investigations, sample purchases, and taking down pirated listings. Using a team of dedicated analysts and sophisticated platform technology, we can promptly detect infringement and counterfeiting activity for rapid action and consolidated, insightful reporting for the 200 brand customers now serviced.

In the last two decades, counterfeiting has quickly grown from city sidewalks to the internet marketplaces. While e-commerce has opened new doors for traditional and start-up brands, it has also provided illicit traders lucrative access to a global customer base.  Online counterfeit goods now total an estimated $590 billion globally and according to a recent study by the European Union Intellectual Property Office, 1 in 10 online buyers has been deceived into buying a counterfeit product.

Tokyo Olympics – Example of Recent Target

As online marketplaces continue to be exploited by illicit traders there is a growing amount of peddling with convincing bootleg and falsified versions of branded products. This illegal activity increases during major global events such as the recent Summer Olympics in Tokyo for example. While there was ample licensed merchandise sold through the official online store of the Olympics, there was also falsified and unlicensed merchandise selling through illegitimate, third-party websites.

As Authentix/SIPI closely followed the action in the Olympic games, they also investigated licensed branded merchandise sold online, where it was discovered that marketplaces, social media and multiple 3rd party websites were offering unlicensed and infringing products. Using t-shirt sales as an example, the product offered on certain websites we investigated all displayed the Olympic branding TOKYO 2021. However, despite being held belatedly this year because of the COVID pandemic, the Tokyo Olympics retained TOKYO 2020, precisely because merchandise with the 2020 branding had been manufactured prior to the delay. Therefore, any merchandise bearing 2021 in the labels was quickly identified through automated means and was presumed to be suspect. To date merchandise bearing Tokyo 2021 is readily available on major marketplaces such as Aliexpress, Wish, Dhgate, ebay and Amazon. Discrepancies in branding and use of marks such as the TOKYO 2020 logo were also found to be compromised during our investigation.

There are many technological advancements such as product clustering, geo location mapping and machine learning based algorithms that can be used to find products compromised in the various marketplaces, discover major networks of illicit traders, and find many other forms of IP infringement. Once infringements such as the examples used above for the Tokyo Olympics are identified, viable and rapid action including shutdowns can be taken against the perpetrators, holding them accountable for their actions and helping to further prevent unauthorized products from being placed on the market.

To learn how Authentix Online Brand Protection Services can quickly work for your company’s on-line monitoring and enforcement needs, visit our website.

DigiTrax™ Brand Protection Cloud

     |     

Author: Kathryn Olivier

The DigiTrax™ Brand Protection Cloud is a proven digital authentication track and trace solution that enables inspectors and consumers to instantly identify the authenticity of a product. DigiTrax offers direct confirmation of genuine product with a single QR code scan without the need to download a separate mobile app. DigiTrax also supports the manufacturer’s ability to tailor consumer experiences to company brands and promotions after authentication.

To learn more, view our DigiTrax solution video below.

↑Back To Top