Trademark owners must police and shut down their own infringement cases.
It was announced on July 14th, 2008 that eBay is not responsible for policing any goods for Tiffany, or any other trademark holder – a landmark decision by the Southern District Court of New York. Not only does this landmark ruling affect eBay and Tiffany, it affects almost every major brand selling (or allowing sales on their behalf) online today . . .
Fake goods available for sale through online channels is nothing new by any means. As a consumer, it’s your responsibility to do the research as to if the product is “real” or not. However, as a manufacturer, or trademark holder (i.e. “the brand”), is now ultimately responsible for monitoring their own fake goods on the Internet and taking action to stop the sale from taking place. The ruling in the New York court yesterday looks like a new wake-up call for copyright holders, and it’s now more imperative than ever that they start l Online Reputation Management services.
Comments on the Detailed Ruling – “The court is not unsympathetic to Tiffany and other rights owners who have invested enormous resources in developing their brands, only to see them illicitly and efficiently exploited by others on the Internet,” said Judge Richard Sullivan. “Nevertheless, the law is clear: it is the trademark owner’s burden to police its mark, and companies like eBay cannot be held liable for trademark infringement based solely on their generalized knowledge that trademark infringement might be occurring on their websites.”
Unfortunately, with the new ruling in place, you don’t need to worry about just sales via eBay, but other secondary channels like Amazon, Yahoo Stores, Google Products, and MANY more. It is now your responsibility to monitor trademark violations and take actions against violators – whether you have the time or not – and Online Reputation Management is VERY time intensive.
Many people have heard about Online Reputation Management, but think of it mainly as positive and negative “press” (consumer, trade, news, etc) management. This is actually only one part of holistic Online Reputation Management – other remaining facets include tracking unauthorized use of trademarks / images, tracking the misuse of reselling goods (gray marketers / gray marketing), as well as working with brands to find the sources of the goods and ultimately (and often very creatively) shut them down.
Some questions to ask yourself and team members:
1. Do we have the educated personnel it takes to internalize Online Reputation Management? Probably not – it is a massive undertaking, that must be monitored daily, by professionals who have dealt with these types of issues in the past.
2. Do we have the tools that it takes to streamline our processes and automate Online Reputation Management?
Again, probably not. The tools can be very expensive, and one size certainly does not fit all. MarketNet uses a variety of automated tools and manual research and analysis to see the “big picture” and the granular details attached.
3. Is outsourcing my company’s Online Reputation Management needs realistic?
In reality, using a service such as MarketNet for Online Reputation Management tends to produce results faster, as well as integrate seamlessly with your organization’s strategy and internal resources.
4. How do I know what service is right for my company?
Talk to experienced vendors such as MarketNet, based in Dallas, Texas, to go over your needs, and have a discussion on how a partnership with an Online Reputation Management firm interprets your pain points, and paints a strategic plan that you are comfortable with.
5. How are Online Reputation Management services priced?
No two clients are the same, and no two clients should ever receive the same “basic” work plan. It is imperative that Discovery time between the client and ORM vendor is established to talk about pain points by site / channel (even offline), and creating a baseline report in which to monitor progress by on a go-forward basis.
The faster you adopt an Online Reputation Management program, the faster you will see results – if run CORRECTLY. Ask for references, ask for experiences, and insure that there is a 100% mutual understanding of all issues, goals, and ongoing steps taken on both the client and agency side to insure a productive engagement, and ultimately, RESULTS.
