Online Brand Protection: How Brand Monitoring Works

The legal framework

You cannot act against an infringement you do not know about. Brand monitoring is the practice of looking for it continuously, and the law then decides what you can do with what you find.

What a trademark owner can prohibit

For an EU trade mark, Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 (the EUTMR) gives the proprietor the right to prevent third parties from using, in the course of trade, a sign in three situations: the sign is identical to the mark for identical goods or services; the sign is identical or similar and there is a likelihood of confusion; or the mark has a reputation in the EU and the use takes unfair advantage of it or harms it. Article 9(3) lists acts that count as use, among them offering or selling goods under the sign, importing or exporting them, using the sign as a trade or company name, and using it in advertising and on business papers. The Benelux Convention on Intellectual Property (BCIP) gives Benelux marks comparable rights, in Article 2.20.

These rules apply online as offline. A listing on a marketplace, a social media profile and a website can all be use of a sign in the course of trade.

Limits

The right is not unlimited. Under Article 15 EUTMR, the rights are exhausted when goods were put on the market in the EEA by the owner or with consent, so a reseller of genuine goods can in principle sell them on, unless there are legitimate reasons to oppose, such as a changed or impaired condition. Descriptive and nominative use, for example to indicate that you sell compatible spare parts, can also be allowed if it follows honest practices. A monitoring system therefore finds candidates, and a lawyer decides which are infringements.

Platform and intermediary rules

Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 (the Digital Services Act) shapes how platforms respond. Hosting services are not liable for illegal content they do not know about, but lose that protection if they fail to act once informed (Article 6). Article 16 requires hosting services to have a notice-and-action mechanism, and Article 22 gives notices from trusted flaggers priority. Online marketplaces must also trace their traders (Article 30), which can help identify a seller. Platforms may nonetheless ask for registered rights and evidence, which is why a complete notice matters.

Routes to stop an infringement

• A notice to the platform, host or registrar.
• A cease-and-desist letter to the seller or domain holder.
• For domain names, the UDRP, the URS and the .be and .eu procedures, described in the article on domain name disputes.
• Court action. National courts can order infringements to stop, often through fast interim procedures. The right of information in Article 8 of Directive 2004/48/EC helps identify infringers.
• For counterfeit goods, an application for action by customs under Regulation (EU) 608/2013.

In practice

Where infringement shows up

Monitoring covers four fronts: new trademark filings on the registers, product listings on marketplaces, impersonation and misuse on social media, and lookalike domain names. Our online brand monitoring discovers lookalike domains from several independent sources, among them zone files, certificate logs and newly registered domain feeds, and follows the large marketplaces and social platforms. Detections are grouped in five channels: marketplaces, social media, websites, domain names and app stores.

From signal to priority

Each detection is weighed on several factors: how closely names and images match, whether the seller is an authorised partner, and whether the pricing is suspicious. Known partners are recognised so that attention goes to genuine threats. An attorney then reviews the detections that warrant action and decides with the brand owner.

An example

A Ghent company makes outdoor equipment under a registered EU trade mark. Monitoring flags a domain name that adds a hyphen and the word "outlet" to its brand, a marketplace listing with the logo at half the usual price, and a social media account using its product photographs.

The attorney finds that the listing is placed by an authorised Spanish distributor that sells genuine goods and the price reflects a promotion. That is not an infringement, but it is a point to raise under the distribution agreement. The account is an unauthorised seller of counterfeit goods, and a notice with an evidence pack leads to its removal. The domain name points to a clone of the company's webshop. A notice to the host removes the site fast, and a complaint under the UDRP then recovers the domain name so that it cannot reappear.

Authorised partners

Many deviations come from partners. A distributor that sells outside the agreed channels, or uses an old logo, calls for a contractual response and not a takedown. Our rights and obligations register follows the duties that the agreement imposes, and the article on distribution and reseller agreements explains these clauses.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a registered trademark to act?

Usually yes. Most platforms ask for registration details, and the EUTMR and BCIP protect registered marks. Unregistered rights can sometimes be relied on, for example in a UDRP complaint, but the proof is harder.

How fast can content be taken down?

It depends on the platform and the quality of the notice. A complete notice with clear evidence is dealt with faster, and platforms are required to act once they have knowledge of illegal content. We cannot promise a time.

Is selling genuine goods without permission an infringement?

Not if the goods were put on the market in the EEA by the owner or with consent, as the rights are then exhausted. Exceptions apply, for instance where the goods have been altered or repackaged in a way that harms the mark.

Can I find out who is behind a listing?

Often. Marketplaces must trace traders under the DSA, registrars may disclose data under their procedures, and a court can order disclosure under Article 8 of Directive 2004/48/EC.

How this connects

Monitoring and enforcement are available as brand monitoring and online enforcement. Where the infringers are partners, see brand policy compliance, and for contested domain names domain name disputes. The notice workflow is described in takedowns and enforcement notices.