Brand Protector blog

Notes for the people running brand protection.

Operational write-ups for brand owners. Marketplace policy, takedown forensics, and the engineering behind detection.

Strategy·2026-06-11·9 min read
The D2C founder's guide to brand protection
A practical brand protection guide for D2C founders — the five threat types, how to prioritize by revenue risk, build vs buy, and a first-90-days plan.
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Legal·2026-06-11·9 min read
What is MAP (minimum advertised price) — and is it legal?
MAP sets a floor on advertised prices. Why it's lawful in the US under the Colgate doctrine, how it differs from RPM, and why UK/EU brands can't use it.
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Takedown guides·2026-06-11·9 min read
How to remove counterfeit Amazon listings (2026 guide)
Every Amazon counterfeit report path — Report a Violation, the public form, Project Zero — plus evidence requirements, timelines, and rejection re-files.
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AI visibility·2026-06-11·8 min read
What to do when AI shopping assistants recommend knockoffs of your product
Why ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini sometimes recommend counterfeits — and the three moves that actually change the answer. No, you can't DMCA it.
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Buyer's guides·2026-06-11·8 min read
What brand protection software actually costs (2026)
Sourced 2026 price anchors for brand protection software — Red Points, MarqVision, BrandShield, Corsearch — why pricing is opaque, and the real TCO.
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Buyer's guides·2026-06-11·8 min read
Red Points alternatives for SMB brands (2026)
Five honest Red Points alternatives for 2026 — MarqVision, BrandShield, Corsearch, DIY, and Brand Protector — with sourced pricing anchors.
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Buyer's guides·2026-06-11·7 min read
MarqVision alternatives: brand protection without the enterprise contract
MarqVision alternatives for SMB brands — what managed programs cost per their own buyer's guide, and the self-serve and enterprise options compared.
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Strategy·2026-06-11·8 min read
Brand protection ROI: honest math for SMB brands
How to measure brand protection ROI without inflated multipliers — conservative per-removal estimates, payback math at $199/mo, and what to track.
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Buyer's guides·2026-06-11·7 min read
How to choose MAP monitoring software (2026)
Evaluation criteria for MAP monitoring tools: coverage where violations live, evidence quality, false-positive controls, enforcement gating, and pricing.
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MAP enforcement·2026-06-11·8 min read
What a compliant MAP violation letter contains (and what it must never say)
The required elements of a MAP violation letter — evidence, policy excerpt, cure window — and the phrases that erode Colgate protection if you use them.
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MAP enforcement·2026-06-11·7 min read
Unauthorized sellers vs MAP violations: different problems, different playbooks
An unauthorized seller is a distribution problem; a MAP violation is a pricing problem. Why a used eBay listing is neither, and the playbook for each.
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MAP policy·2026-06-11·7 min read
What a defensible MAP policy covers
The sections a defensible US MAP policy needs: advertised-price scope, new-condition limits, promo windows, uniform enforcement, and version dating.
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AI visibility·2026-06-11·8 min read
How to monitor your brand across ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini
AI answers now route buyers. What to track (recommendation share, misattribution, substitution), why weekly sampling beats daily, and how to run the loop.
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Domains·2026-06-11·9 min read
Typosquatting and lookalike domains: detection and takedown
Homoglyphs, TLD swaps, hyphenation — how lookalike domains are built, how to detect them early, and when to use UDRP vs registrar abuse vs host reports.
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Domains·2026-06-11·8 min read
Defensive domain registration: what's worth buying (and what isn't)
You can't buy every permutation of your domain. A cost-benefit framework: the tier worth owning, the tier worth watching, and the tier worth ignoring.
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Trademarks·2026-06-11·8 min read
Trademark watching: catching conflicting USPTO/EUIPO filings early
USPTO gives you 30 days from publication to oppose; EUIPO gives three months, non-extendable. What a trademark watch covers and what to do on a hit.
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Takedown guides·2026-06-11·7 min read
eBay's VeRO program: how rights owners remove infringing listings
How eBay's Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) program works: NOCI enrollment, what qualifies, removal timelines, and the counter-notice reality.
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Takedown guides·2026-06-11·7 min read
Walmart Marketplace counterfeit takedowns: the Brand Portal guide
How to remove counterfeits from Walmart.com: Brand Portal registration, the public IP Claim Form, evidence that works, and what happens to the seller.
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Takedown guides·2026-06-11·8 min read
Etsy counterfeit and design-theft takedowns: a brand owner's guide
How to report counterfeits and stolen designs on Etsy: the IP report flow, which claim type fits, the handmade-reseller gray zone, and counter-notice reality.
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Takedown guides·2026-06-11·8 min read
Fake listings in Google Shopping: how brands get them removed
Imposter merchants and counterfeit offers in Google Shopping: which report path fits, how Google enforces, and when it's really a lookalike-domain problem.
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Marketplace policy·2026-05-10·7 min read
How counterfeiters use TikTok Shop in 2026
TikTok Shop's product-page architecture lets counterfeit listings hide in plain sight. Here's the seller-handle and listing-image patterns we see, and what brand owners can actually do.
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Takedown forensics·2026-05-10·10 min read
Reading an Amazon Brand Registry rejection email
Brand Registry's rejection emails sound bureaucratic but follow a small, learnable taxonomy — the seven rejection patterns we see, what each one actually means, and how to respond.
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Legal·2026-05-10·8 min read
What § 512(f) means for your DMCA takedown program
Filing a DMCA notice in bad faith isn't just embarrassing — it carries statutory liability. Here's the case law brand-protection programs should actually understand before they file.
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Engineering·2026-05-10·9 min read
Image similarity scoring with CLIP for marketplace listings
How we use OpenAI's CLIP embeddings to catch counterfeits whose listing copy looks innocent but whose photos are exact replicas of the genuine packaging. Architecture + cost trade-offs.
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The D2C founder's guide to brand protection

What is MAP (minimum advertised price) — and is it legal?

How to remove counterfeit Amazon listings (2026 guide)

What to do when AI shopping assistants recommend knockoffs of your product

What brand protection software actually costs (2026)

Red Points alternatives for SMB brands (2026)

MarqVision alternatives: brand protection without the enterprise contract

Brand protection ROI: honest math for SMB brands

How to choose MAP monitoring software (2026)

What a compliant MAP violation letter contains (and what it must never say)

Unauthorized sellers vs MAP violations: different problems, different playbooks

What a defensible MAP policy covers

How to monitor your brand across ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini

Typosquatting and lookalike domains: detection and takedown

Defensive domain registration: what's worth buying (and what isn't)

Trademark watching: catching conflicting USPTO/EUIPO filings early

eBay's VeRO program: how rights owners remove infringing listings

Walmart Marketplace counterfeit takedowns: the Brand Portal guide

Etsy counterfeit and design-theft takedowns: a brand owner's guide

Fake listings in Google Shopping: how brands get them removed

How counterfeiters use TikTok Shop in 2026

Reading an Amazon Brand Registry rejection email

What § 512(f) means for your DMCA takedown program

Image similarity scoring with CLIP for marketplace listings