Sneaky criminals: Counterfeiting through the web, notice and take down

Sneaky criminals: Counterfeiting through the web, notice and take down

For counterfeiters, the Internet has become a versatile tool for developing illicit business of spurious products. The constant evolution of technology and modalities for online shopping, represent an ongoing challenge for trademark owners against the ease with which you can access forgery.

Through the web, counterfeiters have access to the whole world and do not need to be located in one or more physical points to lead forgery to the consumer. They can also use photographs and advertising of lawful products to promote counterfeit goods, delivered to the consumer when it has made a purchase. In turn, consumers (of all sizes, from the individual, to the retail chains) can access via the Internet various sources and acquire, consciously or unconsciously, fake products; all you need is a credit card for online payment.

In several cases, counterfeiters use domains that unfairly and illegally produce product brands positioned in the market, so that search engines could direct the consumer to a fake site, without being easily noticed. In other cases, counterfeiters make use of recognized sites for positioning, promoting and selling, through them, their spurious products.

Panelists will share with us these and other practices, and how the agents on the web have taken measures to mitigate or confront them. In some cases, content/services providers as well as the sites themselves, contemplate the figure of “notice and take down” among others, enabling a voluntary cooperation (not all laws have developed this). Panelists will also share with us practices and cases related to counterfeiting through the web.