Anti Copying in Design (ACID), the UK design and intellectual property (IP) advocacy organisation, and SnapDragon Monitoring, an online brand protection and reputation management specialist, are partnering to help safeguard design businesses from counterfeits and IP infringements.

Counterfeiters continually exploit genuine brand success to produce low-quality imitations of products. These counterfeit goods not only erode brand revenues and compromise IP but also endanger consumers due to the use of toxic materials.

A recent SnapDragon survey reveals nearly 20% of UK SMEs have fallen victim to counterfeit product sales, resulting in severe financial losses for 93% of them. Furthermore, £13.6 billion worth of fake goods infiltrated Britain in 2020, causing legitimate businesses to lose sales totalling £9 billion.

The partnership aims to combat these issues by offering guidance, advice and technical monitoring to protect assets.

Leveraging SnapDragon’s AI platform, Swoop, SMEs can continually scour the web to detect brand threats, infringements on registered and unregistered IPRs, and counterfeit product listings. They can then swiftly act to remove these threats before they damage sales, brand reputation or customer safety.

ACID, which is currently celebrating its 25th anniversary, complements this effort by offering membership to the UK’s premier IP protection advocate. Widely recognised for its strong advocacy for IP protection, ACID offers creators and the design community tools for protection, deterrence and education.

To mark the partnership’s launch, SnapDragon and ACID are hosting a live webinar.

Commenting is Rachel Jones, CIO and founder of SnapDragon Monitoring. “Counterfeits are a huge problem, yet traditional brand protection has always been geared towards bigger businesses, though counterfeits affect companies of all sizes.

“It doesn’t matter if you are a global enterprise or a small boutique designer, if you have developed a product, you hold the rights to its ownership and fraudsters should never get away with banking on your success. We are in the business to support these organisations, offering them accessible brand and IP protection to help them keep the products they have worked tirelessly to create safe.”

Hosting the webinar will be Dids Macdonald, founder of ACID, and Rachel Jones, founder of SnapDragon Monitoring. The duo will share effective tips to protect your brand and products from online infringements, including the sale of counterfeit products. To register for the webinar, which takes place on 9 November at 12.30pm, please click here.