One reason you might need to pursue business litigation is that someone has copied your product and is passing it off as genuine. It’s something that happens commonly to well-known and well-loved brands such as Gucci and Nike, but it could happen to anyone.
Counterfeiting is a massive problem costing businesses huge amounts of money every year. Here are some of the negative consequences it could have on you:
It can cost you sales
Many people want to look the part but don’t want to pay to be the part. If they can get something that, as far as anyone looking briefly at them in a club can tell, appears to be your branded product, they may prefer to buy the cheaper counterfeit rather than your original.
It can damage your reputation
Someone buys a counterfeit backpack that they think is yours. They take it hiking, and after a weekend away, the seams are already failing. If they believe it is original, they may go online and badmouth you or just tell everyone they know about their bad experience, costing you reputation and sales in the long run.
It can bring your brand’s exclusivity down
Let’s take fake designer handbags as an example. Part of their appeal, aside from their quality and design, is their exclusivity. If all of a sudden, everyone on the high street was wearing a bag that looks just like one of theirs, those who can afford the genuine article might be turned off and feel they need to look elsewhere to signal their wealth discreetly.
There are legal steps you can take to protect your intellectual property to make it less likely someone counterfeits your products or to seek damages if they already have done so.