Brand protection “getting harder”, says new survey

A majority of cross industry sector companies polled in a new survey think that protecting their brands has become more difficult over the last 12 months.

The survey by IQPC’s LegalIQ of 210 respondents – from a broad range of industries – showed that 55 per cent said it had become more challenging to protect brands, with 45 per cent saying it was easier.

The report reveals that online infringement is the top brand protection priority, followed by preventing the movement of counterfeit goods, and increasing dialogue between brand owners and authorities. However, there was a broad split between the categories which revealed a broad range of priorities, with none scoring above 20 per cent.

Overall, the priorities point to an increased focus on online brand protection “signifying a shift from traditional forms of counterfeiting into online counterfeiting as a key issue for many organisations,” says IQPC.

For a full look at the results – which also cover the risks of brands being associated with offensive or compromising content, investigation practices, budgets and outsourcing trends amongst other topics – please click here.