Why You Need to Track Your Brand. Now.
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A unique and memorable company name, logo, motto, or tagline is part of standing out online. If you sell products, your product names should also be unique to you and marketed so that folks recognize them as yours.
You will work very hard to create your brand—something unique to you and different from all the generic, similar websites and products. Branding is an effort that never ends. But how can you protect that image and your uniqueness after all that work?
Well, you can spend thousands of dollars trademarking your collateral. The trademark process is essential if you want leverage in court.
I am not an attorney, nor do I play one on TV. You should always make these decisions in partnership with an attorney specializing in digital and trademark law, so you know all the variables you need to consider. You can learn more at the U.S. Patent & Trademark website.
Even if you trademark your business and product names and have the “Circle R” (®) after them, that does not stop shysters from misusing your good name or stealing your graphics and content. Plan on the fact that they will.
But you have to catch them first. With billions of web pages currently online, how is that even possible? It can be done by tracking.
Tracking Your Brand
You don’t need to trademark your brand to prevent others from using your brand and images. This is where the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) can be invoked.
I wrote a detailed article about the DMCA and how you can use it to file complaints against infringers.
How to Report Stolen Content: DMCA Guide and Tips
The short and sweet of it is the moment you create anything — it is naturally copyrighted to you. No one has permission to use your collateral without your consent.
So, tracking any terms related to your brand is a no-brainer. You don’t want other websites masquerading as you or scamming people by pretending to offer your products. In addition, it’s just good marketing to keep up with what others are using the same, if not unique, terms you are targeting.
I run into this all the time with one of my e-commerce websites. We offer unique products with very uncommon names. Our product images are also unique in how we take and frame them. When someone steals our stuff, there is no mistaking that they did so.
And guess what? I get notified at least once a month of a website using our company name and images because I have tracking in place.
Surprisingly, many small businesses do not actively track their business and product names. Because of this, they are unaware that their products, content, and images are being used without their knowledge.
Tracking is Easy
Create a list of products, names, and phrases you want to track.
Then, go to Google and set up some Google Alerts.
You have many options for each alert regarding how often and how you want to receive them. Also, Google keeps a running preview of the Alerts found for your chosen terms.
What Happens Next?
You’ll receive alerts when Google picks up your terms, company, or product names. You can then follow the links and determine what actions you need to take—if any. You can also file a DMCA takedown request to have the site owner take down anything that belongs to you.
Often, stolen product names and images are on websites that use Cloudflare. Unfortunately, you’ll have no visibility into ownership or hosting, so you can’t complain directly to their hosting company. You can submit an abuse complaint via Cloudflare’s Abuse form.
Cloudflare will then notify the hosting company of the offending website. Unfortunately, that’s all they can do. Since many of these offenders are overseas and not subject to our laws here in the United States, you are sometimes powerless to compel them to do anything.
But that should not prevent you from trying.
Alert Benefits Too
Not only do you find out when someone is taking your stuff and using it without your permission, but you also get positive alerts, such as when a link to your domain name appears or a positive write-up about your company or products.
Inbound links are golden, especially when they are positive. That’s called a networking opportunity. If the link is negative, you then have the opportunity to react and make things right.
It’s time to set up your brand alerts, don’t you agree?
At your service,
