Catching the Ecommerce Counterfeiters

Online brand protection and enforcement service CitizenHawk has introduced a tool that enables companies to detect unauthorized product sales, including counterfeit goods, on the Internet.

HawkAuctions allows its users to monitor their brands' presence on online auction platforms, exchanges and classified advertising sites, and detect sales of counterfeit products to determine if legitimate products are being marketed without the manufacturer's permission.

What is interesting about the solution is that it detects sales patterns and identifies the offending sellers (including those operating under various aliases), delivering information on a real-time basis so merchants can respond quickly. The solution currently supports eBay's VeRO (Verified Rights Owner) and NOCI (Notice of Claimed Infringement) programs.

"Counterfeiting costs the U.S. economy an estimated $215 billion a year and is a particularly serious problem prestigious, high profile brands," said David Duckwitz, CitizenHawk's president and chief executive officer. "Major brands also must contend with products being sold in the so-called gray market, i.e., unauthorized product sales outside of approved distribution channels. The Internet has been a powerful vehicle for counterfeiters and gray marketers, who often use legitimate sites like eBay or Craigslist to move their goods. With HawkAuctions, brands now have an effective way to uncover such activity and fight back."