Over the recent years, numerous online platforms, including Amazon, eBay, AliExpress, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Youtube and others, have greatly simplified the process of protecting entrepreneurs’ trademark rights. Trademark registration grants entrepreneurs access to reporting tools and features that allow them to takedown hijacked product listings, copycat brand names and other types of content infringing on their intellectual property rights.
Fuelled by the providers of brand monitoring and enforcement services building on top of these changes, the process of protecting the brand has become increasingly convenient and simple.
There are however also unintended consequences of this simplification, the dark side to this development. Should an entrepreneur fail to register the trademark for their brand, they are exposing themselves to an ever-increasing risk. Due to the convenience and automated decision making related to brand protection as enabled by online platforms, this risk can have far reaching consequences.
Imagine a scenario in which an entrepreneur manages to sell 100s of products on Amazon under their own brand. Imagine a scenario in which this entrepreneur has not yet thought about protecting their brand through trademark registration. Besides being prevented from entering Amazon Brand Registry, there is seemingly little to lose from this neglect of brand protection.
It is however the simplicity of brand enforcement enabled by Amazon that gives extreme power to others who may wish to benefit from this entrepreneurial success. All it takes is for them to register a trademark and the perpetrators have an opportunity to halt any sales activities of the authentic entrepreneur. One form in which they report an infringement and the entire product listing is blocked within 48 hours.
All this wrongdoing is enabled by the simplicity of platform takedowns and by the presumption of intellectual property offices that trademark applications are not filed in a bad faith.
Way too often, our clients seek brand protection services only after they have come in firsthand contact with brand infringement. Their intellectual property rights can of course be upheld but it costs time, and results in an unnecessary loss of sales and potential lasting damages on brand reputation.
This isn’t fiction. This is the harsh reality of numerous hard-working entrepreneurs who were forced to make the difficult choices between coming to terms with the blackmailer’s demands or engaging in a legal dispute which cost them dearly, not just in the cost of legal proceedings but also in lost sales due to blocked product listings.
The moral of this story?
It is never too early to register your trademark. Early trademark registration allows you to make use of the simplified brand protection tools, letting them play in your favour not against you. The best place to start is through our free lawyer’s check.
In case it is already too late, just drop us a line at [email protected] and our team will advise you on the best course of action.
