Identifying Infringing Listings on Various Platforms
You've discovered that your product or photography has been copied and is now being sold on every online marketplace imaginable.
Firstly, don't panic and most importantly DON'T GIVE UP. There is a large increase in products being copied in overseas factories and being sold on online marketplaces, often using the original creators' photography. As you can imagine, this causes huge brand confusion and ultimately ends in damaged brand reputation. But how to do you tackle a large number of infringing listings of your product?
The answer: Tactically!
The first thing you need to learn is how to remove your infringing listings from various online marketplaces. Each marketplace may have a different removal request process. Check out our handy resources section for guidance on how to remove from all the major marketplaces.
Secondly, what IP protection do you have? Do you have a Patent, Design Registration or Trademark that you can use to prove that the design was originally yours? If not don't worry, you can still remove in exactly the same way (and sometimes faster from some platforms) with unpaid Copyright and, in the UK, Design Right. These are your automatic rights when you create an object or take a photo. You just need your original website as proof that this design/photography is in fact yours. This can be a Etsy site or website, however you'll need proof that this has been established a reasonable time before the infringements started to appear. This might be the date from the data of a photo.
Strategic Steps for Filing Takedown Requests
Now for the actual reporting of listings. Your aim is to remove these listings permanently, rather than constantly play a game of wack-a-mole. In order to do this effectively you need to first address the platforms and markets you are selling from/into. There is little value in taking down listings in markets you don't sell into, for example Singapore, if you don't have your immediate selling markets cleared down. Instead focus on your main selling markets and the online marketplaces that you sell your genuine products on. By focusing on a few main online marketplaces first, you start to clear them down completely. Then when new listings pop up, you can remove them straight away. Sellers will then very quickly stop selling your product. Most marketplaces only give sellers 3 IP claims against them, so if their listings are removed a couple of times, they will stop trying. There are always going to be one or two listings emerging after this point, however if you stay vigilant with your marketplace checks and send removal requests quickly, they won't become out of control.
Personally we'd recommend focusing in on AliExpress, Alibaba and Temu, to clear down the 'gateway'. The goal is not to reduce them, but to stop them. You then also want to target your main markets. This might be Walmart, Amazon.com, eBay - the main ones that sell into the market that you sell your genuine products into or online marketplaces you sell on. You'll find once you have cleared down the 'gateway' marketplaces, all the listings on other marketplaces will reduce a great deal naturally.
For a large number of infringing listings, it is essential that you monitor each marketplace regularly as new listings can emerge daily and if you fail to keep on top of them, then your problem goes back to day 1. However with constant monitoring, the infringing listings will reduce over time and eventually disappear.
Don't despair, you can do this.
If you do need backup, then we can help.
IP Moat is a platform designed to give you a dashboard to find and remove listings that infringe on your IP from a range of online marketplaces. Therefore, you don't need to go through lengthy set up processes for each different marketplace. Or spend each evening trawling through online marketplaces. The best thing is, it's FREE to find those infringing listings. All you need to do is enter your IP. Sign up for free online marketplace searches at www.ipmoat.ai. Or drop us an email at hello@ipmoat.ai to arrange a demo and a chat.
