The scenario goes something like this:
You are producing, importing, and selling your product. Life is good.
Suddenly, you find out your product is being sold on the web by an entity unknown to you. Maybe it’s a former version of your product…. perhaps it’s a current version. Maybe it’s not your product but a similar and more cheaply made version. Or perhaps a version of your product shows up at a store with your name and logo…but it’s not your product.
It doesn’t matter if the product is current, outdated, or a poor knockoff. The violation of your intellectual property (IP) rights and your product and possibly your company’s reputation could be in jeopardy.
How To Stop Intellectual Property Being Stolen
One of the first things you can do is report the site selling your product without your authorization to the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center: https://www.iprcenter.gov/referral/view.
Per the IPR Center’s website, the IPR Center and its worldwide partners employ a strategic approach to combat IP theft. That approach includes:
- Investigation – Identifying, disrupting, prosecuting, and dismantling criminal organizations involved in the manufacture and distribution of counterfeit products.
- Interdiction – Using focused targeting and inspections to keep counterfeit and pirated goods out of U.S. supply chains, markets, and streets.
- Outreach and Training – Providing training for domestic and international law enforcement to build stronger enforcement capabilities worldwide.
The link above has a large amount of data and information about transnational criminal activities and enforcing robust import and export controls.
Websites that sell products, like Alibaba and Amazon, have a page where you can report IP infringement. Alibaba’s reporting page is here. Amazon’s is here.
The best way to prevent these scenarios from happening is to register with US Customs and Border Protection via their e-Recordation Program. Per the site, the e-Recordation Program is the only way to obtain border enforcement of trademarks and copyrights.
To give you a sense of the scope of protection our US Customs & Border Protection e-Recordation Program can offer, please read the following quote from their website:
“United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has the authority to detain, seize, forfeit, and ultimately destroy merchandise seeking entry into the United States if it bears an infringing trademark or copyright that has been registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) or the United States Copyright Office (USCOP), and has subsequently been recorded with CBP. As an intellectual property right (IPR) owner, you can partner with CBP to receive border enforcement of your registered trademarks and copyrights through CBP’s e-Recordation Program.”
Click here to access the US Customs and Border Protection Intellectual Property Rights e-Recordation site to learn more.
There is Good News
ITI Manufacturing is pleased to present this information as a service to our current and future customers. For the past 40-plus years, ITI Manufacturing has been successfully helping companies to manufacture offshore. We value each and every shipment and ensure no manufacturing defects. We take pride in our customers and our superior customer service and support.
On our website, you will find informational blogs such as this one and our new container calculator. We hope you will find our blogs informative and our container calculator helpful.
