Legal tech company, SnapDragon, is launching an automated brand monitoring platform for brand owners in an attempt to fight online counterfeiting.

Swoop, which is the first of its kind to be made publicly available, has been created to enable brands to combat online criminal counterfeiting operations and copycats around the world.

Founder Rachel Jones‘ inspiration behind the development of this platform comes after a harrowing experience in which her business fell victim to fraud. In 2013, Rachel became the victim of a highly sophisticated online counterfeiting scam, where her multi-award winning baby product, Totseat, was copied and sold online by fraudsters.

Battling Counterfeiters

Counterfeiting is a serious issue that plagues brands and businesses around the world. According to statistics by the OECD, the trade of fake goods makes up around 2.5% of all world trade and is growing by a staggering 25% year on year. Profits from the sale of counterfeit products make their way into underground economies and frequently fund criminal activity.

In regards to safety, counterfeiting raises serious concerns. In many markets, fake goods can be fatal or cause serious injury as these counterfeit products do not conform to the same safety standards that brands and manufacturers abide by.

Rachel’s experience as a victim of counterfeit fraud inspired her to take on criminals worldwide. Using Totseat’s extensive registered design and trademark portfolio, she went to war with the criminals to protect both her business and online customers. Communicating daily with the marketplaces selling fake items, she eventually forced the removal of these from the marketplaces.

After years of helping other brands, the ideas for SnapDragon – and Swoop – were born.

Explaining her motivations, Rachel said: “Our goal is to drastically reduce the global sale of counterfeit goods.  Fake goods can destroy brands – I should know – it very nearly happened to me!  I took action to fight back and have spent the last few years helping other companies do the same.”

Swooping in To Save Brands

For many global brands, protecting intellectual property and goods comes at a hefty price. However, it is one they are not only willing to pay, but able to afford. For smaller businesses, this is not the case and to have products counterfeited can irrevocably damage both reputation and profit.

By offering Swoop as Saas (Software-as-a-Service) and at a price that SMEs can afford, Snapdragon is able to provide smaller firms worldwide with access to a finely-tuned, robust brand protection strategy. SnapDragon believes this is an important step for brand protection, as once unaffordable products will potentially become mainstream.

Swoop detects counterfeit and copycat products on some of the world’s busiest platforms, including Alibaba, Amazon and eBay. Links flagged by Swoop are reported for removal using copyright or registered trademarks and design rights by the brand or by the team at SnapDragon.

The software allows any brand to react to and take action against online infringement in real-time; thus protecting revenue, reputation and most importantly, the customer.

It is currently in Beta development, however  Swoop is available at four levels:

• Self-Service Basic
• Self-Service Plus
• Managed-Advanced
• Managed-Premium

Rachel said that “by enabling companies, large and small, to find fakes and by empowering them with the knowledge to take action, sales of counterfeit goods can be prevented, brands and the consumer can both be kept safe, businesses remain profitable and fund flow to criminal enterprises cut.”

Mandy Haeburn-Little, CEO of the Scottish Business Resillience Centre, welcomed the announcement from SnapDragon and hailed the work the firm is doing to combat online copyright and trademark infringement

She said:  “I am genuinely delighted to see a company as respected, nimble and visionary as SnapDragon emerge. Scotland has an excellent reputation for innovation and Rachel Jones is one of those rare and outstanding individuals prepared to stand up and safeguard the wider interests of the whole legitimate business community.

“SnapDragon are at the forefront of this activity in Scotland, the wider UK and internationally. For any company trading online, you need to look at SnapDragon.”