Take precautions against people looking to counterfeit your product
People counterfeiting your product is an inevitable problem you’ll have to go through if you’re selling a great product. However, you needn’t go through this with no way out, because there are numerous ways of protecting your product from counterfeiters, both online and offline. Let’s get right to it.
1. Is Counterfeiting a Misdemeanor or a Felony?
This may seem like an obvious answer, but to make things clearer, counterfeiting a product or brand can result in felony charges. For example, a man very recently was arrested for selling counterfeit brands and items in local stores. So stop worrying and continue reading this article which maps out all the ways you can prevent and protect your product from being exploited and counterfeited. Let’s get started!
2. Monitor Your Product Online
Without the use of technology, it would be almost impossible to find out if your product is being counterfeited. However, the internet makes this process a little easier. All you have to do is regularly monitor your brand online and have a look out for counterfeiters or even suspected ones.
You can also have someone regularly search the net for any product that seems like a counterfeit, even if you don’t have time to do so yourself. Most likely, your product is going to be sold only through a limited number of channels, so anytime you find an unauthorized channel proclaiming to advertise or sell your product, you can be sure it’s a counterfeit. Also, there are anti-counterfeit tools which can do the same job for you if you’d like to double check using tech.
3. Register Your Property Online
It goes without saying that if you really want to protect your product, it’s a good idea to register your intellectual property on e-commerce even if this means spending a little extra. For example, platforms like Amazon already have such preventive measures in check.
The Brand Registry by Amazon helps you register your product’s name, IP, and all the other information about the brand which will enable them to quickly identify counterfeit sellers. Such measures are also practiced by many other online stores.
4. Educate Consumers
You may not always be able to prevent a counterfeit product from getting into the hands of your consumers, but there’s one thing you can do to turn this situation around and that’s educating your consumers. Give them enough data about your product and its individual specifications which they can always have an eye out for, which will automatically help them identify when a product is a counterfeit. Studies have shown that over a thousand customers each year contribute millions to counterfeit products, simply because they can’t tell one from the other due to lack of information and knowledge regarding the product in question.
5. Check Social Media
In the world today, it’s very rare to find a product (even counterfeits) that don’t have social media pages. If your product has been counterfeited, there’s a high chance that it would have a social media page to promote the product at one time or the other. Keep an eye out for such pages and also keep track of hashtags that could potentially market your product. These counterfeiters can automatically be removed forever once discovered.
Summary
Here’s a summary of the best ways you can keep your product safe from counterfeiters in 2021:
- Use technology to keep an eye out for potential counterfeits and any product that looks suspicious. Also monitor the channels where your product is sold so you can immediately know when an unauthorized channel sells your product. Use anti-counterfeit tools to keep an eye out for products even if you can’t do it yourself.
- Register your property on ecommerce platforms.
- Educate your consumers on what to look for when buying your product so they can also keep an eye out for counterfeits and not get scammed.
- Social media pages must be checked regularly for posts, accounts, and hashtags that promote a counterfeit product.
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