Just like legitimate brand holders, bad actors spend the year stockpiling low-quality counterfeits, flooding the market with cheap knock-offs and relying on the lure of a “too good to be true” deal to bring in unsuspecting consumers. This is why brands must be extra cautious, and why it’s important that brand holders make the effort to ensure that their customer are educated and aware of the dangers that come with purchasing counterfeit items, especially when it comes to electronics.¹
For many counterfeit producers, the goal is to make as much money as quickly as possible. This results in products that are mass produced with sub-par materials. The products often lack basic safety features. These shortcuts result in products that are at a much greater risk to fail. Getting a cheap phone charger that immediately shorts out can be frustrating, but consumers using fake electronics can face even greater dangers including shock, fire, explosions and in extreme cases, death.
Because of this, it’s a good idea for brands to make sure that your customers can quickly and easily obtain information about your products including lists of authorized vendors and reputable re-sellers.
It’s also a good idea for brands to remain vigilant online when it comes to patrolling websites built by these bad actors. In many cases, counterfeit vendors will create websites meant to mimic legitimate brand sites, relying on consumer confusion to help close the deal. Having a proactive brand protection plan in place that includes scanning the internet for infringing websites, cyber squatters and confusing domains and shutting them down before consumers can fall victim is crucial to helping keep your customers safe.
Unfortunately, bad actors are fast, and you can’t always stop every consumer from purchasing a fraudulent item. Providing your customers with clear product guidelines and physical characteristics can make it easier for them to identify a counterfeit once they get the product in hand and are able to conduct a thorough examination and comparison.
Finally, partnering with your customers and giving them an easy way to report counterfeit items is another way to help ensure their safety, as well as make it easier for you to track down the source of counterfeit items.
Again, it’s up to brands to help ensure that the products their consumers are purchasing are authentic and safe and part of that is by making sure that your customers are educated.
If you’d like more information about how to keep your brand safe and the best practices for developing a strong anti-counterfeiting program for your IP, schedule a free demo or brand audit with us below.
[1] This blog post provides generalized information and does not constitute legal advice or an attorney-client communication. Each situation is unique and requires consultation with suitable professionals.
