​​​Brand Protection

Warren Buffett is attributed online to having said "[i]t takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it."  Now more than ever, individuals, and businesses have to be proactive about protecting their brand.  Many people will attribute "Brand Protection" to monitoring for those that want to be a copy cat by duplicating and using your Intellectual Property to confuse consumers about the author of works or originator of goods or services but anymore, brand protection doesn't just stop there.  In fact, now individuals and businesses also have to police their brand from those who want to harm your brand by creating imposter accounts on Social Media or launch entire online Defamation campaigns to tarnish your reputation.  Who would do such a thing?  Scorned exes or business partners, unhappy customers, competitors, or people who just don't like seeing others successful.  Now that every Tom, Pat and Karen have access to the Internet - it's a free-for-all - which means there is more effort into brand protection is needed.

Managing these sorts of things can be daunting, and perhaps not something that you want to add to your already abundantly full plate.  Fortunately, Beebe Law has experience in these areas and can help you!  Whether you desire an ala-carte one-time service, an ongoing subscription styled set of services though our Outside In-House Counsel Service, or something in-between, we've got you covered.

Brand Protection Related Services:

• Pre-entity formation review of business name for Intellectual Property or reputation issues
  
• Pre-purchase review of a website domain for Intellectual Property or reputation issues
  
• Trademark Registration with the Arizona Secretary of State
  
• Trademark Registration with the United States Patent and Trademark Office
  
• Policing of Trademark(s) and related Cease and Desist Letters
  
• Copyright Registration with the United States Copyright Office
  
• Policing of Copyright(s) and related Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notices
• Address impersonation/imposter accounts on various online platforms/social media
• Counsel on best practices for handling negative online reviews
  
• File Defamation lawsuit against bad actors (when warranted)
• Work with your PR/Marketing team for pre-publication review to help steer clear of potential pitfalls
  
• Work with your PR/Marketing team to formulate responses to critical reviews or address unintended digital crises
  
• Prepare a Digital Crisis Plan and keep it updated
  

What About My Existing PR/Marketing/Social Media Vendor or Team?

​If you have hired a formal PR/Marketing/Social Media team to handle creating your day-to-day posts and so forth, that's fantastic!  That said, PR/Marketing/Social Media people are the creative thinkers who are focused on the "warm-fuzzy" and getting you exposure.  Often, the last thing on their mind is about the potential legal ramifications for utilizing images that they shouldn't; making certain statements that bind your company/brand to a particular position that would put you at legal risk or disadvantage; or may look like you support a particular position when you don't.  This is why we encourage our clients to have the creative team, and legal team, work together - both before content is generated and shared through your press releases or social media and, especially, in times of digital crises.  It is important to remember that just because you hire a professional company to do work for you won't mean that their actions won't fall back on you/your business.

What About Reputation Management Companies?

There are many reputation management companies online these days.  Many are absolutely wonderful and can act similar to a PR/Marketing firm.  We believe in the utility of such legitimate companies.

Sadly, however, not all of them have the best reputation themselves.  You should be extremely wary of reputation management service providers that claim they can get negative content removed from websites or the Internet simply by paying a fee.  There have been many mainstream news publications that have reported on such issues - some even suggesting that the owners or operators of reputation management companies are connected to or otherwise owned by complaint websites where bad reviews show up.

• Fox 11 Los Angeles 
  
  • January 19, 2020 - FOX 11 Investigates: Reputation defense companies utilizing fraudulent lawsuits and illegal hacks to silence online consumer complaints​ ​​
    
    • ​Related Department of Justice Press Releases:
      
      • ​​May 17, 2021 - Cypriot Hacker Sentenced to Prison
        
      • ​January 25, 2021 - Cypriot hacker pleads guilty to extorting website operators with stolen user data
        
      • ​​July 18, 2020 - Two Alleged Criminals – A Hezbollah Associated Narco-Money Launderer and a Computer Hacker - Extradited from Cyprus to the United States
        

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• The New York Times
  
  • Articles​
    
    • ​​April 24, 2021 - Online Slander Websites
      
  • The Daily Podcast
    
    • April 26, 2021 - A Vast Web of Vengeance
    • ​May 3, 2021 - A Vast Web of Vengeance, Part 2​​​
      

• CBS News
  
  • ​​July 25, 2019 - CBS News investigation finds fraudulent court orders used to change Google search results

If you're ready to take a proactive approach to protecting your brand, or have us partner up with your existing team, contact us!  ​​​

It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.  If you think about that, you'll do things differently.

​

​- Warren Buffett

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