ONLINE PLATFORMS

Understanding how online platforms process and perform takedowns is essential to in-house brand protection practice.  Many platforms have compiled and published enforcement reference guides.   Below is material provided by eBay® to assist brand protection professionals in their enforcement activities.

The following contribution was provided by an eBay representative.

In 1998 eBay established the Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) program to enable rights holders to report allegedly infringing listings on our sites. Since launching this, we have worked hard to build a global network of thousands of rights holders, with whom we work to identify and remove potentially problematic items and content from our sites. If a rights holder believes that its IP rights are being infringed by a listing that a seller has posted on eBay, we encourage them to quickly notify us and sign up for the VeRO program. However, the programme cannot be used to control selective distribution, minimum advertised pricing policies, other contractual matters, or regulatory compliance issues.

Joining VeRO is fast and easy – all rights holders have to do is to submit a Notice of Claimed Infringement. If you are acting on behalf of a rights owner, please submit a POA/LOA along with the notice. Our dedicated VeRO team will review your claim in a timely manner and will inform you on the additional reporting solutions available for submitting future reports, such as the e-NOCI and the VeRO Reporting Tool (VRT), all of which are free of charge and designed to reduce the time spent on reporting as much as possible.

Figure 1: The VeRO notification process

VeRO Participant Profiles

Understanding the details of IP law is not always easy. Therefore, clear and appropriate communication is key to protecting IP rights online. In this context, communication with users needs to be tailored accordingly and should focus on education.

This is why eBay offers rights holders the opportunity to create a VeRO participant profile page. This is a great tool for educating eBay users about a rights holder’s policies and legal position. eBay promotes these pages in a variety of ways. For example, we include a link in the notification to sellers whenever we remove a listing. To create your page, simply submit the content to our VeRO team for upload (vero@ebay.com).

VeRO participant profile pages:

  • show transparency concerning your anti-counterfeit measures;
  • improve buyer satisfaction and raise trust in your products;
  • improve communication; and
  • improve transparency for sellers and lead to fewer enquiries that you do not accept or tolerate IP infringements 

eBay’s Top Tips for Rights Holders

The accessibility and visibility of the Internet can offer a number of opportunities for rights holders concerned about the issue of infringing products and online content. eBay has a variety of tools which can make it easier for rights holders to monitor the online space: 

  • Basic search – rights holders can perform a general search from the eBay homepage, using keywords that describe items you are looking for (e.g. trademark names or film or album titles).
  • Advanced search function – the advanced search function allows rights holders to run a more detailed search by selecting particular characteristics, such as bidder, category, seller, or postcode.
  • Favorite search function – if you have an eBay account, you can save your regular searches. You do not have to be an actual Seller or Buyer to set up an account for monitoring purposes. To save you time, eBay will send you a daily email notification with any newly listed items that fit your search criteria.
  • Monitoring agents – there are companies that specialise in offering reporting services for rights holders. Rather than just monitoring the eBay website, these third parties have developed tools and processes to help identify potentially infringing materials throughout the Internet based on information provided by you. eBay welcomes cooperation from these partners.
  • VeRO profile pages – you can create your own VeRO profile page on eBay and choose its content for free. This allows you to deliver your brand 

In late 2017, eBay will be launching eBay Authenticate, a program designed to boost consumer confidence, especially for higher-end transactions. Given some shoppers may be hesitant to purchase high-valued items online, this new service is designed to both ease buyer concerns and help sellers acquire top dollar for their items. To start, the service will be focused on high-end fashion items. More details on operations and pricing will be shared later in the year.

How the Program Will Work?

  • Sellers or buyers opt into the service for a fee on specified types of items on eBay.
  • If an item sells, it will be reviewed by a professional authenticator before being shipped to the buyer.
  • If the items passes inspection, it will be shipped to the buyer.

If you have any questions about our anti-counterfeiting measures, feel free to contact the VeRO team (vero@ebay.com) or global IP brand manager Julien Dudouit (jdudouit@ebay.com).

BASCAP BEST PRACTICES


Many associations are dedicating time and resources to the issue of online sales of counterfeit goods. Among these are the International Chamber of Commerce and its BASCAP (Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy).   BASCAP published a paper on the best practices for removing fakes from Online Platforms (full paper at BASCAP BEST PRACTICES).  The recommendations also specifically call for action by online platform owners and include:

  • Outline clear Terms of Service prohibiting use of a platform to sell or otherwise trade in counterfeit or infringing products or services.
  • Encourage stronger enforcement of the Terms of Services between platform owners and traders, with increased cooperation between service providers and rights holders.
  • Implement due diligence checks by platform owners to ensure a basic understanding of who is trading on their platform.
  • Adopt automated task management tools appropriate to the business to identify high-risk behaviors and potential red flags.

THE BRAND PROTECTION PROFESSIONAL | JUNE 2017 | VOLUME 2 NUMBER 2
2017 COPYRIGHT MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY BOARD OF TRUSTEES

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