Interesting insights into the presentations and discussions from the expert conference Brand Protection Online Europe are now available online. At the event, which the trade magazine World Trademark Review hosted in mid-October in London, high-profile speakers e.g. discussed how important it is for companies, authorities, and customers to work together in the fight against counterfeiting.
Among others, Peter Ratcliffe, Detective Superintendent, City of London Police, informed on how enterprises can cooperate with authorities. He called on companies to liaise with the British Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) and proactively inform the authorities. “At the end of the day, we’re police officers and we can’t know everything. Intelligence sharing is important“, Ratcliffe explained. According to him, cooperation with stakeholders, associations, and the public has never been as important in police work as it is today.
In another presentation, Zeeger Vink, IP Director of the Swiss holding company Maus Freres, emphasizes the high potential that customer feedback has as an information source on potential counterfeits – which, according to Vink, is also key to efficient brand protection online. Customers’ leads can give companies a wealth of information about possible counterfeits. In his experience, it is surprising how dedicated customers are to reporting potential fakes – and what value their tip-offs can have for brands, Vink concludes.
You can read up on numerous further presentations of the conference online. Interesting questions that were discussed for example also included how to evaluate the return on investment of brand protection activities or how to act against the misuse of brands in apps and social media. Further presentations e.g. covered the effects of data protection and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on brand protection.
