While the organizations are busy fighting the counterfeits of their products, violation of their trademark by way of misuse of their (organizational or product) logos has been rampant. Also, issues related to the cost of enforcement, returns on the money spent on such violations and complexities involved in the legal processes, act as major bottlenecks for taking actions against such infringements.

The misuse of marks on the signage, visiting cards, letter heads, invoices, websites, promotional materials has been rampant and mostly goes unnoticed or never acted against. This in turn is putting the brand owners and consumers at a huge disadvantage.

The best way to act against such violations may not always be legal notices or expensive law suits. These violations can be best handled by creating pressure using the social groups, consumer activists, social networks and innovative campaigns using the trade associations in the bargain.

The key therefore is education about the violations, their identification & reporting, the local field engagements and also keeping a continuous watch. These can be best achieved by the use of online/mobile knowledge and information tools. An informed group of volunteers/ professionals and activists can very efficiently use the knowledge platforms and tools for effective investigations and actions.

www.brandsandfakes.com is one such initiative & an online platform, which allows knowledge dissemination and capture of such violations across the country. The extended network of social groups, activists, volunteers and informed consumers act as catalysts for taking effective actions. The knowledge management tool, social platforms and online LAMS application creates processes and databases for continued benefit of consumers and brands.