Digital ecosystem is evolving and so are the threats on the emerging digital brands.
According to a report, 85% of brands experienced trademark infringement in 2019, up from 81% in 2018 and 74% in 2017.
What is more alarming is the rise of digital brand infringement and impersonation attacks through fake websites and social media accounts which has cost some of the country’s most recognized brands up to 25% of their market share.
Looking at these stats, we can say trademark infringement poses a significant threat to businesses of all sizes. What many businesses fail to realize is how this infringement can silently erode the trust consumers place in a brand, leading to long-term damage that may not be immediately visible but is deeply impactful.
Trademark infringement isn’t just about unauthorized use of logos or names; it encompasses a wide range of activities, including counterfeiting, phishing scams, fraudulent online marketplaces, and brand impersonation.
But how does this happen? What can be done about it?
In this blog, we will explore how trademark infringement damages brand reputation and how open-source intelligence helps in brand protection from these threats.
Understanding the Types of Trademark Infringement
When a business or individual uses a trademark that is identical or confusingly similar to an existing trademark of a business, without their permission, it is considered as trademark infringement. While the legal framework provides some recourse, the damage already done is still long-lasting. Some of the most common tactics used by fraudsters are:
1. Counterfeiting and Knockoffs
Imagine a customer purchased counterfeit or duplicate goods, believing they are authentic products from a trusted brand. But the quality of the product was not satisfying. This
automatically leads to frustration and erosion of brand trust, which once lost, is incredibly difficult to regain.
Moreover, this severely damages a brand’s reputation. Consumers assume that your company condones these low-quality offerings, even though you were not involved.
2. Domain Squatting and Cybersquatting
Domain squatting is when infringers register domain names that are confusingly similar to a legitimate brand’s name or trademark. These domains may redirect users to fake websites or be sold for a profit. This tactic can mislead consumers to buy fake products or even associate a well-reputed brand with low-quality content.
3. Unauthorized Use in Digital Advertising
Use of a brand’s name or logo in ads is one of the most common techniques used by fraudsters for brand infringement, thereby gaining an unfair advantage by associating their products with a trusted name.
4. Brand Impersonation on Social Media
Social media is a common platform for brand impersonation. Fraudsters create fake social media profiles or pages that mimic well-known brands, duping consumers into trusting fraudulent entities. These impersonators often target followers with phishing schemes or fake promotions, damaging the real brand’s credibility.
The Ripple Effect of Trademark Infringement on Brand Reputation
Now that we all know, trademark infringement is not just a legal but a reputational issue. When consumer trust is undermined because of such activities, the damage effects are real. This leads to:
1. Loss of Consumer Trust
When a brand’s trademark is misused through any means and consumers are unknowingly misled into purchasing substandard goods or falling victim to scams. This directly impacts their perception of the brand’s reliability. As a result, trust, which takes years to build, is broken in an instant.
2. Financial Fallout
Trademark infringement leads to a severe financial impact. Counterfeit products often undercut legitimate brands, resulting in lost revenue and market share. Additionally, the cost of resolving infringement cases, which involves legal action, brand audits, and marketing efforts to restore reputation, is challenging.
3. Erosion of Brand Value
A brand’s reputation is one of its most valuable assets. But the value of a brand declines when counterfeit products or misleading advertising flood the digital space. Consumers are less likely to purchase from a brand they perceive as vulnerable to such violations, leading to diminished customer loyalty and decrease in market demand.
4. Negative Consumer Sentiment
Trademark infringement activities associated with a brand fosters negative sentiment. Consumers may even begin to question the authenticity of the products they purchase, leading to dissatisfaction and public backlash. Moreover, social media, with its reach and speed, can amplify such sentiments, putting your brand’s image on the line.
AI-Driven Threats and How Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) Enables Brand Protection
AI-driven threats have emerged as a formidable challenge to brand protection. AI-generated counterfeit products, and bot-driven social media manipulation, including deepfakes, have become more sophisticated and harder to detect with the growing complexities of digital landscape.
AI-Generated Infringement: The New Face of Brand Impersonation
Fraudsters now use AI to create deepfakes, mimicking the voices and faces of executives or influencers associated with your brand. This technology creates realistic-looking social media content, videos, and even customer reviews that can deceive your target audience into thinking they’re interacting with your official brand channels.
Furthermore, AI algorithms generate counterfeit goods with remarkable precision, replicating logos, product descriptions, and packaging designs in a way that’s almost indistinguishable from the original. This level of sophistication makes it nearly impossible for consumers to tell the difference between authentic and counterfeit items, leading to damaged brand reputation of businesses.
The Role of Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT)
To combat AI-driven threats, brands are turning to Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT). It involves collecting publicly available information from a variety of online platforms, including social media, e-commerce websites, and forums, to identify potential threats. OSINT tools gather vast amounts of data from open sources, providing brands with the intelligence needed to act swiftly and decisively.
Brand protection is a brand’s own responsibility. With open-source intelligence, brands can monitor digital channels for instances of trademark infringement in real time. OSINT tools help detect and uncover hidden threats across the digital ecosystem, enabling brands to act quickly to remove counterfeit listings, shut down fraudulent accounts, and protect their brand reputation before significant damage occurs.
How AI and OSINT Work Together
When combined with AI-driven detection technologies, OSINT tools create a powerful brand protection solution. AI excels at scanning large volumes of data and identifying patterns of infringement, while OSINT enables brands to collect valuable intelligence from the broader digital landscape.
For example, sentinel+ by mFilterIt is an advanced brand protection solution, that integrates both AI and OSINT to continuously monitor digital channels for threats. Through real-time alerts, and complete transparency of the data, Sentinel+ helps brands protect their intellectual property and reputation across the web.
Building a Proactive Brand Protection Strategy
Given the complexity, it is important for brands to adopt a proactive, technology-driven approach for brand protection. Here’s how you can develop a robust brand protection strategy:
Embrace AI-Driven Tools: Incorporate AI into your brand protection strategy to enable real-time monitoring and automated detection of threats.
Utilize OSINT for Early Detection: Leverage open-source intelligence to gather data from publicly available sources and identify potential threats before they escalate.
Stay Vigilant with Continuous Monitoring: Brand protection isn’t a one-time effort it’s an ongoing process. Constant vigilance through continuous monitoring ensures that you’re always one step ahead of potential threats.
Conclusion: Safeguarding Your Brand in the Digital Age
As fraudsters become more sophisticated, brand infringement is an ever-present threat to businesses. By embracing modern, AI-powered solutions like Sentinel+ by mFilterIt, brands can safeguard their trademarks, detect AI-driven threats, and leverage OSINT to monitor the digital landscape effectively.
Don’t wait for a crisis to occur. Take control of your brand’s reputation today by implementing a proactive brand protection strategy.
