How to remove counterfeits from Instagram

Have you found counterfeits on Instagram? Is someone stealing your designs or your creative works? Put an end to it today with our guide.

Social media, has become a hotbed for intellectual property (IP) infringements, and despite substantial pushback efforts from the platform, Instagram is no exception. We at Red Points do what we can to help fight against counterfeiting, so we’ve created this handy guide to have illegal sellers removed from Instagram.

Counterfeits are rarely sold on Instagram – the problem isn’t so straightforward. Instagram is manipulated by IP infringers in order to advertise their fake products. Links from the advertisements lead consumers off-site, where the counterfeits can be sold. It’s important for brand owners to stay vigilant – any tool that counterfeiters can abuse in order to move their fake goods will be abused. So take down the infringements before your brand is further damaged!

What IP is being infringed?

Let’s take a quick look at the types of intellectual property that can be infringed on the social media platform.

Copyrights are used to protect an artist’s work, be it written work like books and poems, artwork like paintings and drawings, music, film and so on.
Trademarks are used by a company as a stamp of authenticity. Trademarks exist as words, symbols, designs, or some combination of all three. They are used to identify that a product belongs to, and is created by, the owner of the trademark. Counterfeits infringe trademarks. They are products which illegally use protected branding so as to cheat consumers into thinking they’re buying authentic goods.
Patents protect inventions, like new machines or processes.
Design refers to the outward appearance of a product, taking into account the colours, shapes, textures, materials used and more.

What you’ll need to report to Instagram

Once you know which IP is in need of protection, you can start the process of reporting. As always, we recommend you are prepared for the report, so the process goes as smoothly as possible. 

For issues of copyright, you’ll need:

• Your standard contact information
• Examples of the infringing content, (such as photos, videos, captions and comments), in the form of URLs
• Examples of your original, copyrighted work, in the form of URLs or as uploadable files

For issues of trademark or counterfeits, you’ll need:

• Your standard contact information
• Examples of the infringing content, (such as photos, videos, captions and comments), in the form of URLs
• Trademark details, including what it is, where it’s registered, the registration number, categories of goods/services covered, URL link to your trademark, or an uploadable copy. Make sure to prepare information for all trademarks you wish to protect.

For issues of design rights or patents:

There is no official route offered by Instagram for dealing with design rights, or with patents. We recommend seeking the help of a brand protection service, or of a lawyer. 

Filing an IP report to Instagram

Trademark

Follow this link to get to the Instagram trademark report page and, like with copyright, complete the fields with all the relevant details. 

If you have different registered trademarks you wish to protect, simple click “I have additional trademarks”, and complete all the fields. Up to six total trademarks can be registered with a single report, so if you have a large number which you wish to register, this process should be repeated until complete. 

Counterfeit

Follow this link to get to the Instagram counterfeit report page. Since counterfeits are items which infringe trademarks, the process is the exact same as that of trademarks.

Copyright

Follow this link to get to the Instagram copyright report page, then complete all the fields with the data prepared. This part is very simple, since you only really need to show Instagram the offending pages, and the original, authentic pages. 

What now?

The internet and ecommerce have made it incredibly easy to infringe IP rights on an enormous scale, so it’s important to keep your rights protected everywhere. Check the list below to see if you have anywhere else your rights are being infringed, and follow the guides to stay protected.

• How to report trademark infringements on Amazon.
• How to report a seller on eBay.
• How to report a counterfeit on Taobao, TMall and TMall Global
• How to report intellectual property infringements on Etsy.
• How to remove a counterfeit from AliExpress
• How to remove counterfeits from DHgate

If your brand is being infringed on a huge scale, and it’s become impossible to manually protect your IP, then it’s time to get in touch with brand protection specialists. For a free consultation, and an online infringements scan, get in contact with us at marketing@redpoints.com, and we’ll be happy to discuss your issues!