Brand protection costs money and requires a big investment of time and effort. Because of that, brand owners are tasked with proving to management that the return on investment is worth it when working with an external service provider. ROI comes from the benefits a program provides equating to value for the brand—but not all benefits are as obvious as internet enforcement, takedown action, and delistings.
In the absence of enforcing brand rights, return on investment also comes from a service provider’s ability to alert a brand to:
- Negative customer comments and boycott activity
- How a brand is being used (or abused) by third parties
- The existence of confusingly similar brands—legitimate or not
- Brand dilution
This awareness can help to inform a company’s IP protection strategies, product development directions, and marketing activities. Domain recovery and renewed web traffic are also benefits of continued brand monitoring, so cyber criminals realize action is being taken to thwart their efforts, and they move on to unprotected brands.
Read the full article by CSC’s David Barnett to find out how ROI can be calculated to prove benefit to brand owners and how a brand protection program can help your company today.
Read “Return on Investment: Proving that Protection Pays ” >>
This article first appeared in Anti-counterfeiting and Online Brand Enforcement: A Global Guide 2021, a supplement to World Trademark Review, published by Law Business Research – IP Division. To view the full guide, visit WorldTrademarkReview.com.