Black Friday Prep: Trademarks, Counterfeits, and Fast Takedowns
The holiday season isn’t just peak sales time, it’s also peak infringement season. As shoppers flood marketplaces with urgency (and limited price sensitivity), counterfeiters know this is their moment. Brands that don’t prepare early often spend the entire season reacting instead of preventing. The good news? A well-structured trademark and brand-protection strategy can cut off most problems before they escalate.
Here’s what every brand should put in place now to stay protected through Black Friday and beyond.
1. Monitor Marketplaces Before They Become a Problem
If you’re selling on Amazon, Etsy, Walmart Marketplace, or Shopify, assume someone is watching your listings, and ready to copy them. Black Friday attracts bad actors who hope your attention is elsewhere.
Set up monitoring across major platforms with tools that automatically flag:
Listings using your trademarks or brand name
Product images identical or suspiciously similar to yours
Unrealistically low prices
Sellers with recent creation dates or no feedback
Reviews referencing poor quality or “not the real brand”
Automated monitoring is ideal, but even a weekly manual check can prevent a small issue from becoming a widespread counterfeit problem.
2. Collect the Right Evidence Quickly
When you identify a suspicious listing or domain, move fast. Marketplaces and registrars require specific types of proof to take action.
Gather:
Screenshots of the infringing listing (including seller name, URL, and date/time)
Your trademark registration certificates or application numbers
Evidence of your authentic product and branding
Proof of first use (if needed)
Purchase receipts or investigator reports, if you’ve ordered a counterfeit
The more organized and complete your documentation is, the faster platforms will remove infringing content. In many cases, strong evidence leads to same-day takedowns.
3. Follow Clear Escalation Paths
Every platform has its own escalation process, knowing it ahead of time means you don’t waste hours searching while counterfeiters sell your products.
Common pathways include:
Amazon Brand Registry → most effective for fast removals
Etsy/IP Reporting Portal → requires a trademark registration
Meta Commerce & Ads Reporting → for ads using your brand name or imagery
Shopify Abuse Form → for entire stores using your brand identity
If a seller repeats the behavior or avoids removal, escalation to legal notices, platform enforcement teams, or direct cease-and-desist letters may be necessary. Consistent documentation makes these escalations far more effective.
4. Watch for Knockoff Domains: UDRP and “UDRP-Lite”
Counterfeiters don’t just mimic products, they can mimic your website.
If you see domains like:
yourbrand-shop.com
yourbrandofficial.store
yourbrand-sales.net
…you may be dealing with a knockoff storefront or phishing operation.
You have two primary paths:
UDRP (Uniform Domain-Name Dispute Resolution Policy)
A formal process to recover or cancel domains that infringe your trademark. It’s fast, efficient, and powerful, especially when the domain is clearly being used to impersonate your brand.
UDRP-Lite
A streamlined, lower-cost approach for obviously bad-faith, copy-paste domains. Many registrars accept these informal complaints when infringement is blatant, allowing removal without a full UDRP filing.
Both are effective, but only if you act quickly once the domain appears.
Prepare Now, Protect Through the Holidays
Peak season can be your most profitable time of year or the time when your brand reputation takes the biggest hit. A proactive protection strategy keeps you ahead of counterfeiters instead of scrambling behind them.
Ready to secure your brand before Black Friday hits? Set up a brand-protection watch today.