Josep Coll was tired of watching creatives lose their jobs to intellectual-property (IP) thieves on the internet. That’s why he founded IP protection firm Red Points, he explains on the company website. “I dreamt of creating a team to fight against global piracy. I dreamt that any person or business could delete illegal content from the internet.”
Fast forward to today, and his dream is a reality. The company has mushroomed into an international brand protector with 400 clients worldwide and offices in Barcelona, Berlin and New York. It tracks down trademark and copyright infringement on the internet with the aid of proprietary software, artificial intelligence, keyword menus, expert analysts and attorneys.
This combination of automated process and human analysis also includes forming relationships with the people behind web platforms — such as Amazon.com, Alibaba.com and social media sites — that can be home to counterfeit sales. The companies work together to set up protocols for getting knock-off products removed from the sites.
Detecting and protecting“Red Points ensures that you are the only one profiting from your ideas,” explained CEO and partner Laura Urquizu in mid-July, speaking at an event organized by the Women’s Jewelry Association’s New York Metro Chapter. “You might not have the same resources as Nike, but every company deserves to be protected.”
To get started, jewelry designers with copyrighted works register them with Red Points, documenting places where they do and don’t sell, she explained. The company then uses algorithms and bots to monitor and search sites daily; tools like image recognition help the firm’s software learn and pinpoint a brand’s look. If it finds an offender during this detection phase, a validation process begins. Once a valid abuser is outed, Red Points uses its findings to have the offending piece or pieces of jewelry removed.
“We achieve a 96% success rate on infringement enforcement and removals, and the average time from detection to removal is a day and a half,” Urquizu reported, adding, “If it’s online, then we can detect and protect.”
‘A never-ending virus’Jewelry isn’t the only industry Red Points serves. Its clients span companies in apparel, home goods, and numerous other product categories. And while the consequences of counterfeiting in the jewelry world are primarily loss of revenue — Urquizu said about 10% of companies were affected — the repercussions in industries such as beer, toys, electronics, cosmetics and perfumes can be deadly. Counterfeiters often use toxic materials in their products, and once caught, they usually just move on to different brands.
“The fight against counterfeiting is like a never-ending virus,” said Urquizu. “Counterfeiters steal your innovation, research and time.”
Article from the Rapaport Magazine - September 2018. To subscribe click here.